Human Urine is a safe, inexpensive fertilizer for food crops
Researchers in Finland are reporting successful
use of an unlikely fertilizer for farm fields that is inexpensive, abundantly
available, and undeniably organic
Researchers in Finland are reporting successful use of an unlikely fertilizer for farm fields that is inexpensive, abundantly available, and undeniably organic — human urine.
Despite the ‘yuk’ factor, urine from healthy individuals is virtually sterile, free of bacteria or viruses. Naturally rich in nitrogen and other nutrients, urine has been used as fertilizer since ancient times.
In the new study, Surendra K. Pradhan and colleagues collected human urine from private homes and used it to fertilize cabbage crops. Then they compared the urine-fertilized crops with those grown with conventional industrial fertilizer and no fertilizer.
The analysis showed that growth and biomass were slightly higher with urine than with conventional fertilizer.
I’ll bet results were better than they would have been even 100 years ago. There has to be higher levels of useful nutrients in our urine, nowadays just because of a generally more expansive, more inclusive, diet.
Posted: Tue - October 9, 2007 at 07:32 AM