Browsing by Subject "Human urine"

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Sanitized human urine (Oga) as a fertilizer auto-innovation from women farmers in Niger
(2021) Moussa, Hannatou O.; Nwankwo, Charles I.; Aminou, Ali M.; Stern, David A.; Haussmann, Bettina I. G.; Herrmann, Ludger
Poor soil chemical fertility and climate change restrict pearl millet grain yield in Niger Republic. Apart from the seedball technology, which targets majorly early phosphorus supply to the plants, the recommended practices of mineral fertilization and seed treatments (coating and priming) are barely affordable to the local farmers in particular. In the case of female farmers, who usually have chemically infertile farmlands often located far away from their homestead, low pearl millet grain yield can be exacerbated. In quest for a cheap, affordable, and effective solution, we hypothesized that the application of sanitized human urine (Oga), in combination with organic manure (OM) or solely, increases pearl millet panicle yield in women’s fields and on different local soils. In on-farm large-N trials (N = 681) with women farmers in two regions of Niger (Maradi, Tillabery), pearl millet panicle yields were compared between the control (farmer practice), and a combination of Oga and OM in the first and second year, and Oga alone in the third year. Our results showed an average panicle yield increase of about +30%, representing +200 to +300 kg ha−1. Major factors determining the yield effect are season, village, and local soil type. This study shows for the first time that Oga innovation can be used to increase pearl millet panicle yield particularly in the low fertile soils of women’s farmlands in Niger. Oga innovation is affordable, locally available, and does not pose a risk to resource-poor female farmers of Niger.
Urban waste fertilizer: effects on yield, nutrient dynamics, and potentially toxic element accumulation
(2025) Reimer, Marie; Möller, Kurt; Magid, Jakob; Bruun, Sander
Recycling nutrients contained in urban wastes to agriculture is essential in a circular economy. This study simultaneously compares different recycled fertilizers (household waste compost, sewage sludge, human urine) with mineral fertilization and animal manures. Tested were their long-term effects on yield, nutrient budgets, potentially toxic element (PTE) accumulation, and nitrogen (N)/carbon (C) cycle (among others N efficiency, N losses, soil C). Therefore, data from a long-term field trial and predictions from the soil–plant-atmosphere model Daisy were evaluated. Based on trial data, human urine performed similar to the mineral fertilization for yield, N efficiency (mineral fertilizer equivalent (MFE) = 81%), and nutrient budget, while sewage sludge and compost were comparable to animal manures in terms of having lower yields, N efficiencies (MFE 70% and 19% respectively) and higher nutrient imbalances, especially P and S surpluses. Compost and sewage sludge applications resulted in net PTE inputs. Yet, plant uptake and soil accumulation seemed neglectable. Model outputs predicted N losses of 34–55% of supplied N. Losses were highest for compost, followed by deep litter, manure, sewage sludge, human urine, mineral fertilization, and slurry. Nitrate leaching was the main loss pathway (14–41% of N input). Within the compost and straw-rich manure fertilization, about 25% of applied N was stored in the soil which was accompanied by an increase in soil C. The study suggests substitution of established fertilizers with recycled ones is feasible. Thereby each fertilizer has advantages and disadvantages and thus should be utilized according to its strength or in mixtures.