.
Uganda Local farmers adopt human urine as fertilizers, pesticide
Uganda Local farmers adopt human urine as fertilizers, pesticide
No more wastage of human urine and whoever
has been wasting it should think twice. It''s of important use in farming among the poor farmers who can not afford the expensive fertilizers from commercial farm shops.
Farmers in various parts of the country have adapted to the use of human urine as fertilizers to raise vegetables and fight crop diseases, a visit to the farmers revealed. The method started in a small village called Baitambogwe in Mayuge district East of the Country but has now spread to over 21 districts.
Through knowledge sharing the telephone short message system commonly known as sms, the farmers in Baitambogwe are propagating the method to their counterparts in various parts of the country. "We no longer waste urine in our homes. Each member of the family is allocated a tin every night where she/he urinates then in the morning we pour it into a one big container and ferment it for 28 days", Ms. Mary Batwaweela said in a recent interview.
After that period (28 days) she said, the urine is then mixed with water at a ration of 1:1and taken to the gardens and poured in rows so that the plant can feed on it from the soil.
The aim is to increase the soil fertility so that the crop can have the necessary nutrients. As a result, the soil remains fertile and crops can be grown all year around supported by watering (irrigation).
"You don''t have to pour it directly on the plant because it will burn", she explained. It can also be used on the banana plantations, groundnuts and maize. Research has proved that fermented urine can also be mixed with animal waste to make a paste which acts as a soil.
She said that the same urine can be used in spraying bananas against the wilt. She explained that one jerry can of water is used to mix one jerry can of urine for spraying. She adds ash and red pepper in it before she sprays her banana plantation.
"I don''t have money to buy the expensive chemicals so that is what I use. It is very effective and my bananas are doing well", she said. The farmers are organized under the Busoga Rural Organization for Development Initiatives (BROSDI). Brosdi enables platforms for rural farmers that facilitate the grass root farmers to be able to carryout or conduct information sharing for improving livelihoods using collaborative and local tools.
The organization''s farmer coordinator Ms. Maria Nakiirya said that science has not proved the health side effects of urine. "I grew up seeing excessively drunken people being given human urine to drink. They never died and got healed", Nakiirya says.
The vegetables being raised include cabbages, tomatoes, the egg plants and dodo among others. At least 500 farmers countrywide are using the method to get high yields that has transformed their livelihoods.
Fermented human urine can also be mixed with animal waste to make a paste which acts as a soil fertilizer. When planting a banana sucker the paste is mixed with coffee husks and poured in the hole before planting.
Elsewhere in Mexico , human urine is fermented by placing one litre of urine in a container and adding a spoonful of black soil. It is left to sit for 28days and the process is completed when the smell of ammonia becomes pervasive and colour changes from yellow to dark brown for use in gardens.
Published: August 16, 2007
More summaries by Spoton
More