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posted by hubie on Wednesday June 22 2022, @04:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the better-pea-yield dept.

Testing the use of human urine as a natural fertilizer for crops:

Humans have known for thousands of years that their urine is an excellent fertilizer for crops. It contains phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium—many of the same ingredients as commercial fertilizers. But because of the squeamishness associated with using urine to grow crops, its use has been limited. [...]

The first step in the experiment involved renaming urine because its common name was considered offensive. They settled on Oga. Next, they separated the farmers into two groups; one ran their farms in the traditional way, the other fertilized their wheat using Oga. Over two growing seasons, crop yields were measured for both groups. The Oga for the second group of 27 farmers was provided by the farmers themselves, who were taught how to pasteurize, store and dilute their urine for use as fertilizer. They also added small amounts of animal manure.

The data collected from the farms showed that those that had been fertilized using Oga produced on average 30% more grain than the traditional farms. The researchers note that the differences were so great that other women in the region began emulating those in the experiment. Two years after the experiment, they found that more than a thousand women farmers were using Oga to fertilize their crops.

Journal Reference:
Moussa, Hannatou O., Nwankwo, Charles I., Aminou, Ali M., et al. Sanitized human urine (Oga) as a fertilizer auto-innovation from women farmers in Niger [open], Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s13593-021-00675-2


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1) by pir on Friday June 24 2022, @01:04AM

    by pir (9719) on Friday June 24 2022, @01:04AM (#1255717)

    I find it effective (though I have limited experience so far) undiluted, in containers *right* next to the plants you want to protect from deer, rodents, etc. Apparently (from reading of others experience) it remains an effective repellent for a few days at most, so it's necessary to resupply frequently. Apparently you can spray a diluted solution on leaves as well, but I've yet to try that.

    Cayenne pepper also works well, but also has to be reapplied frequently, and too much can hurt the plants.

    Next year, I'm planting "onion fences" along with marigolds around all the plants that critters like to munch.