1. Whatisurine?

Urine is the fluid excreted by the kidneys. It consistsofwater,carryinginsolutionthebody's waste products and excess substances. Most ofthenutrientsabsorbedbythehumanbody from the food we eat is excreted via urine. Therefore,urineisrichinvaluableplantnutri entsandcanbeconsideredaliquidfertilizer.
Perlitre Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Sulphur Magnesium Calcium 7g 1g 2g 1g 80mg 200mg Perperson&year 3.5kg 0.5kg 1.0kg 0.5kg 40g 100g

2. Whyfertilizewithhumanurine?
Just like the nutrients in chemical fertilizers, those in urine are easily taken up by plants. The wellnourished plant will grow faster, developmoreleavesandproducegreateryield. When urine is applied to crops instead of fertilizers,wesavetheexpenditureonthelatter whileachievingthesameyieldincrease.

1,000mwellfertilized.

4. Thenutshellguideline

3. Howtofertilizewithurine?
Applicationofurinecanbescheduledasusu allydonewithnitrogenfertilizers.Anyplanning ofurinefertilizationmusttakethetransportinto account.Incomparisonwithcommonfertilizers, thenutrientdensityofurineislow.Forexample, toprovide1kgofnitrogen,weonlyneedabout 2kgofurea,butalmost150litresofurine.Con sequently,itisconvenienteitherforcroplandto be close to the urine collection facility or to haveanappropriatetransportsystemavailable.
Low Crops Ndemand kgperha Urine litreperha Urine litreperm Medium High Tomato, cucumbers, cabbage 160 23,000 2.3 Herbs, Onions, beans, peas, peppers, lettuce potatoes 45 6,500 0.6 100 14,000 1.4

Collect urine. Urine is collected separately fromfaecestoallowitsuseasaliquidfertilizer. In waterless toilet systems the separate collection also reduces odour nuisance and enhancespathogendieoffinthefaecalmatter. Depending on the scale a variety of plastic containers, urinals with local or centralised collection and separating toilets can be used. Generally waterless toilet systems are preferable as the dilution of urine with water multiplies the storage and transport requirements. Storage. Stor ageofurineallows its use when the nutrients are most needed. Further, duringthestorage period, chemical processes kill Fig.2:Urinestoragetanksclose pathogens.Introp toagriculturalfields(Ghana) icalclimates,urine shouldbestoredforaboutthreemonthsbefore application.Ifstorageisnotpossible,thenthe freshurineshouldonlybeappliedtotallstand ingcrops.Examplesofsuchcropsare:banana, plantain, papaya, oranges, avocado and mango. Stirring.Duringstorageurinetendstodevel opcrystallisationandprecipitationofsaltswhile it is standing at ambient temperature. These salts may trap a significant proportion of the

Tab1:Approximateplantnutrientcontentofhumanurine

Withinaperiodofoneyear,anaverageperson excretesalmost6kgofpureplantnutrientsvia urine.Thisisalmostequivalenttotheamount of nutrients contained in 15kg of compound NPK+fertilizer.

Tab 2: Urine application rates in relation to the crop nutrientdemand Fig.1:Selectionofsanitaryinstallationsforurine collection.Flushlesssittingtoilet(Ghana),squatting pan(China)andhomeurinal(Germany)

Dependingonwhatcropsaregrown,theurine of one person is enough to keep 300 to

totalnutrients,especially phosphorus. Therefore, the stored urine should occasionally be stirred beforefieldapplication.

5. Troubleshooting

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Timing. Avoid application during elev ateddaytimetemperat ures.Alargeamountof nitrogen will evaporate Fig.3:Fertigationofa cashewseedlingwith whentheurinecomesin urinewatermixture contact with hot soil. Fertilizationwithurine,aswithallothernitrogen fertilizers, should be preformed at cool temperatures,eitherintheearlymorningorlate intheafternoon. Urineisideallyappliedbeforelightrainfall.This will ensure that the nutrientsare washed into the soil. On very dry soils, more nitrogen evaporates, and in the case of heavy rains, nutrientsarewashedawayfromthecrops.

Plants are yellowish. Insufficient nitrogen supply, or inability of the plants to absorb nutrients. Increase urine dosage or improve growingconditions,e.g.,irrigationordrainage. Plants are dark green and susceptible to aphid attack. Likely nitrogen overfertilization, suspendurineapplication. Plantsarestuntedandbluishgreen. Soilis becoming saline. Leach salts from soil by excessirrigationorsuspendurinefertilization. Leaveshaveanunusualredtopurpletinge. Plants may be phosphorus deficient. Apply compost,manureorphosphorusfertilizers.

Fertilization with human urine...

6. Hygieneconsiderations
Human urine is generally free of pathogens (germs) when excreted by a healthy person. However, postexcretion crosscontamination, e.g.,fromseparatingtoilets,mayoccur.There fore,urineshouldneverbeapplieddirectlyonto thepartoftheplanttobeharvestedandcrops shouldnotbefertilizedwithinamonthbefore harvest. Naturally, as with all other manures, hand washing after working with urine is stronglyrecommended.
Copyright: UniversityofHohenheim[www.unihohenheim.de/respta] BergerBiotechnik[www.bergerbiotechnik.de] ValleyViewUniversity[www.vvu.edu.gh] Pleasefeelfreetocopyandusethisinfoflyerinitsunalteredform. Comments,questions,suggestions: Dr.JrnGermer:jgermer@unihohenheim.de Mr.SolomonAddai:profkams@yahoo.co.uk Mr.DanielSarpong:dsarpong2001@yahoo.com

Application. Fertilization with urine is most commonlypreformedwithwateringcans.When largequantitiesofurinearetobeappliedonex tensiveareas,applicationdevicesasusedfor otherliquidfertilizersarepreferable.Toreduce nitrogen losses,the urine can be workedinto the soil, or the treated area is covered with leavesorcompost. Dilutionofurineisnotnecessaryiftheurineis applied directly onto the soil. For leaf application, e.g., seedlings and vegetables, dilutionofoneparturinewith5ormorepartsof waterwillavoidburningofleaftissue.

...in a nutshell

UniversityofHohenheimBergerBiotechnikValleyViewUniversity

24/04/09