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Farmers Use Human Urine as Fertilizers, Pesticide
The Sunday Monitor - Uganda ^ | August 19, 2007 | By Joseph Mazige

Posted on 08/19/2007 6:15:30 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL

(MAYUGE) - If you are a farmer, you may want to think twice about flushing your urine down the toilet. Urine may be a waste product but it also has many uses, and the best part of it is that it comes with no price tag.

Farmers in various parts of the country use human urine as fertilizers and to fight crop diseases. The method started in Baitambogwe Village in Mayuge District but has now spread to over 21 districts. Through knowledge sharing via telephone Short Message System commonly known as SMS, 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 big container and ferment it for 28 days," said Mary Batwaweela in a recent interview. After that period (28 days), the urine, according to Ms Batwaweela, is then mixed with water at a ration of 1:1 and taken to the gardens and poured in rows so that the plant can feed on it from the soil.

The aim is to increase 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 round supported by watering (irrigation). "You don't have to pour it directly on the plant because it will burn," she explained.

Ms Batwaweela said urine can also be used for spraying bananas against wilt. Before spraying her banana plantation, Ms Batwaweela mixes one jerry can of water with a jerry can of urine together with ash and red pepper. "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 organised under the Busoga Rural Organisation for Development Initiatives (Brosdi). Brosdi gives a platform for rural farmers and facilitates them in areas of improving livelihoods.

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 soil fertilizer. When planting a banana sucker, the paste is mixed with coffee husks and poured in the hole before planting.

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 28 days and the process is completed when the smell of ammonia becomes pervasive and colour changes from yellow to dark brown, making it ready for use in gardens.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cool; diversityrocks; fertilizer; foodsafety; foodsupply; gross; pesticide; pesticides; uganda; urine; yummy
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To: neodad

>> Urine is also good to repel ants.

I read somewhere that the urine of any large mammal — dog, horse, man, manbearpig, whatever — will repel coyotes.

We live in a semi-rural setting and have (or had, before urban encroachment) quite a few coyotes around.

So, just on the off chance that it works, I’d occasionally (uh, OK, frequently) take a leak out on the property somewhere.

I guess it kinda worked — I’m pretty sure the cat died of natural causes.


21 posted on 08/19/2007 6:53:29 PM PDT by Nervous Tick
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To: Nervous Tick

I liberate my excess fluids in the yard all the time. I call it bonding with the dogs.


22 posted on 08/19/2007 6:56:11 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Greed is NOT a conservative ideal.)
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To: Nervous Tick

“Why did you piss away four good posts in one shot?”

Hey what do I know? I am just a peon.


23 posted on 08/19/2007 6:57:20 PM PDT by Delacon
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To: Nervous Tick

’ WATCH OUT WHERE THE HUSKIES GO
AN’ DON’T YOU EAT THAT YELLOW SNOW
WATCH OUT WHERE THE HUSKIES GO
AN’ DON’T YOU EAT THAT YELLOW SNOW ‘

http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Frank-Zappa/Don-t-Eat-The-Yellow-Snow.html


24 posted on 08/19/2007 6:58:02 PM PDT by tflabo
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To: JACKRUSSELL

I work next to a plant where truckloads of raw sewage are brought in daily. Someone’s buying the stuff. What are they making out of it? Crabby Pattys?


25 posted on 08/19/2007 6:58:13 PM PDT by Fester Chugabrew
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To: neodad

“Urine is also good to repel ants”

Well I myself ain’t exactly attracted to it. :)


26 posted on 08/19/2007 6:59:41 PM PDT by Delacon
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To: Delacon

Who would’ve ever thunk that this of all threads would turn comedy, eh?


27 posted on 08/19/2007 6:59:49 PM PDT by Nervous Tick
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To: cripplecreek

They used it as a dentifrice, as well!


28 posted on 08/19/2007 7:00:52 PM PDT by hunter112 (Change will happen when very good men are forced to do very bad things.)
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To: tflabo

The Long Yellow river was witten by I.P. Standing.


29 posted on 08/19/2007 7:02:03 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Greed is NOT a conservative ideal.)
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To: JACKRUSSELL
Ahhhhhhhhhh! I say... piss on it!
30 posted on 08/19/2007 7:02:07 PM PDT by Bender2 ("I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me." RAH Beyond this Horizon)
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To: JACKRUSSELL

I guess vegtables treated with urine would still count as organic. Wash’em well, folks.


31 posted on 08/19/2007 7:02:48 PM PDT by Nachoman (My guns and my ammo, they comfort me.)
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To: Fester Chugabrew

>> I work next to a plant where truckloads of raw sewage are brought in daily. Someone’s buying the stuff. What are they making out of it?

Big-city newspaper maybe?

The economics must be great, they hardly process the stuff before sending it out again.


32 posted on 08/19/2007 7:03:17 PM PDT by Nervous Tick
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To: hunter112

It has been used to make teeth extra white. They say it works better than tooth paste.


33 posted on 08/19/2007 7:08:23 PM PDT by southland (Proverbs 22:7)
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To: hunter112
They used it as a dentifrice, as well!

And hey, once you're used to brushing your teeth with it, why not just drink the stuff...

(shudder) I knew someone who was into this. He and his wife gave me a whole book on the subject. I couldn't even entertain the thought.

34 posted on 08/19/2007 7:09:25 PM PDT by Nervous Tick
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To: Nervous Tick

“Who would’ve ever thunk that this of all threads would turn comedy, eh?”

One of my first movies I saw and still remember was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”. What can I say.


35 posted on 08/19/2007 7:13:08 PM PDT by Delacon
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To: Nervous Tick

“So, just on the off chance that it works, I’d occasionally (uh, OK, frequently) take a leak out on the property somewhere.”

Guaranteed, I wont walk on your property.


36 posted on 08/19/2007 7:19:10 PM PDT by Delacon
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To: Delacon

>> Guaranteed, I wont walk on your property.

Good thinking.

Because, even though the coyotes have pretty much moved along, I still do from time to time.

Why? Because I’m a man and I can! Mrs. Tick doesn’t like it (I think she’s just jealous).


37 posted on 08/19/2007 7:23:29 PM PDT by Nervous Tick
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To: golfisnr1

And it helps grow orchids in Hawaii.


38 posted on 08/19/2007 7:24:31 PM PDT by freekitty
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To: southland

>> It has been used to make teeth extra white.

I bet it makes the breath extra fresh, too.


39 posted on 08/19/2007 7:24:51 PM PDT by Nervous Tick
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To: Gabz

Beer is real good for plants; but don’t put it on the plants sitting on the floor if you have animals. You won’t hav any soil to put those plants in. LOl


40 posted on 08/19/2007 7:26:04 PM PDT by freekitty
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