New research has proved what many alotmenteers have known for a long time, urine is a good fertilizer. So good it can perform as well as bought in artificial fertilizers.
The story appeared on the Environmental News Network yesterday with a report on the results of a trial of fertilizers used on tomatoes carried out by Surendra Pradhan, a researcher at the University of Kuopio, Finland. Plants were fertilized with mineral fertilizer, urine and wood ash, urine only, and no fertilizer. The results show that the urine and wood ash was as good as commercial mineral fertilizer.
The article goes on to say that the down side is that it would require a lot of urine to feed plants on large commercial farms. Why must we always think of large scale mono cropping systems? There are other ways to grow food and in many parts of the world this would be a very easy way of increasing productivity with no capital outlay.
For a couple of years now we have used a sawdust composting toilet at the garden for liquid waste; see previous posts here and here. The urine soaked sawdust goes into the middle of an active compost heap and ends up back on the garden.
Some people find that at best slightly unsavoury and at worst totally disgusting but using human waste is nothing new. Urine is generally quite sterile so is not a particular hazard. While I would think twice about using solid waste on food crops I have no hesitation in using urine. It also makes an excellent compost accelerator!
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It strikes me as a little odd that we have to research what has been known , demonstratred and thoroughly tested in the field over centuries. Nature has produced a pretty good nutrient recycling system balancing plants and animals (including humans). We could do a lot better as a species working more with what is there than trying to bend things to our short term advantage.
I could not agree more. It seems that these days we have to have ‘scientific proof’ of what we already know for it to be valid. I am not anti science just against the power that science has been given and the assumption that it is pure fact and always right.
I am now thinking of urine separating composting toilets for the house!