Use of Human Urine as Fertilizer for Vegetable Cultivation

Human urine contains high amount of Nitrogen (N) and is comparable to synthetic chemical fertilizer in terms of the nature of N content. This paper reports the fertilizer value of human urine for tomato and beetroot cultivations under greenhouse conditions. Both vegetables were grown in a pot filled with agricultural soils treated with synthetic chemical fertilizer (SCF) or Human urine (HU). Fertilizers were applied at a rate of 135kgN/ha of SCF, HU and their double dose for tomato, and at a rate of 133kgN/ha of SCF and HU and their double dose for red beet root cultivation. In both cases controls were neither fertilized by SCF nor HU. The microbial quality of the cultivated tomato fruits and beetroot samples was also assessed. Results show that the yield and other measured agronomic parameters of both vegetables fertilized with urine were found to be higher than that of unfertilized vegetables. However, the effect of urine fertilization was found to be similar with that of SCF in most of the variables measured. There was no significant difference between treatments in hygienic quality of the edible portions of both vegetables. This suggests that urine can be used to fertilize tomato and red beet root with no negative impact on human health.