A different fertiliser

BANGALORE: Rotten vegetables, cow dung and everything else that might not be of any use to humans become trash for humans but food for another living being. So is human waste. But, the psychological implications of marketing something that generally is not acceptable on a dinner table conversation has been a problem.However, senior researcher with University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Dr C A  Srinivasamurthy started working on the project to use Human waste as fertilisers in 2006 and is expected to complete the project by the end of this year. According to him, human urine is a better fertiliser than any other including the cow and it can be used as a liquid fertiliser along with other manure.“It is rich in the minerals like Phosphorus, Nitrogen and Potassium and these minerals are very essential for the growth of any plant or crop. This technique has already been put in to practice in some parts of Karnataka like Doddaballapur, Kolar distric and Kamasamudram,” he explains. His idea is to convert community toilets into eco-friendly toilets wherein the urine from can be collected and converted into fertilisers by adding water to it as urine is acidic. Different crops require different amount of fertilisers and it can be arrived at only after experiments on the crops, he says and adds that the urine fertiliser can be customised according to the requirements.When questioned about the aversion attached to using human waste, he clarified: “This technique is very much legal in India and it is now being practised in Tamil Nadu. Many people avoid human waste as manures but we need to change our thoughts as these techniques might be modern but this is highly efficient and cheap.”