Urine Can Be Used As Fertilizer

The Rev Dr Kwesi Biney, an agriculturist and evangelist, has called for the use of human urine as fertilizer by farmers. It is contained in a paper to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Rev. Dr. Biney said it was estimated urine contained between 5.2 and 9.6 grammes of nitrogen per person per day and between 75 percent and 90 percent of this was excreted as urea. Urine, he said, was also estimated to contain 2.5 to 3.6 grammes of potassium and 0.6 to 1.1 grammes phosphate as plant available phosphate ions. "From research findings it is established that the PH of fresh urine is approximately six, with the PH increasing as urea hydrolyses to ammonia", he said, adding "The PH stored in urine is often slightly alkaline". Rev. Dr. Biney said notwithstanding the effectiveness and economically-cheap aspect of human urine as a form of fertilizer, most countries including Ghana did not want to apply it, mostly for growing vegetables. On how safe the use of urine on crops as well as its smell was, Rev. Dr. Biney said "urine per se is sterile when it is in the human body and it is important to collect it separately from faeces". He said the separation of urine from faeces could be done right from the collection stages and the farmer could do that by urinating into a bucket or any other container. The farmer could keep it sealed whenever the commodity is not in use to reduce its smell and loss of nitrogen to volatilization of ammonia, which is a breakdown product of urea.