1.	Undiluted before or at sowing / planting or to the young plant.
2.	One large dose or several smaller ones during the cropping season.
3.	Mixed with water as a liquid food.
4.	Diluted urine can be added to the soil where vegetables (and plants like maize)are growing once a week or even twice or three times a week, provided that the plants are also watered frequently at other times.
5.	Undiluted to soil beds before planting. Bacteria in the soil change the urea into nitrate which can be used by the plants.
6.	As an 'activator' for compost heaps. The transformed organic nitrogen will be available to plants when the compost has matured.
7.	Concentrated fermented urine can be applied to beds of dried leaf mold, as a Medium for growing vegetables and ornamental plants.

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University is doing a two year study on the potential of source separated human urine as liquid on fertilizer crop from Oct. 2007, in Musiri.
Details available with SCOPE.


Urine application rate-Rule of thumb

If available, local recommendations for commercial mineral fertilizers, urea or ammonium, can be translated to the use of urine. The nitrogen (N) concentration of urine should be analysed. Otherwise it can be estimated at 3-7 g N per litre. If no recommendations are available, a general rule of thumb is to apply the urine produced by one person during one day (24 hours) to one square meter of land per growing season (crop).The urine from one person will thus be enough to fertilize 300-400 m2 of crop per year and even up to 600 m2, if dosed to replace the phosphorus removed by the crop.

Important: For most crops, the maximum application rate before risking toxic effects is at least four times the dose above.

After Crop trials in Africa, Peter Morgan has suggested the following formula for using urine as a fertilizer.

SPINACH: 0, 5 liters of a 3:1water and urine mix applied twice aweek. The spinach plants fed with diluted urine weighed 3.4 times more than spinach fed with onlywater.

MINT & PASSION FRUIT : A weekly application of a 5:1 mix produces a significant increase in growth. This can be stepped up to two applications a week. Normally 0.5 liters of the mix per container is sufficient.

ONION : After six months of water and urine treatment in a 10 liters cement basin the growth and quality of the onions was very good. An amount of 0.5 liters of a 5:1 mix of water to urine was applied once a week during the six-month period together with intermediatewatering.

MAIZE : Maize grows very well in the presence of Nitrogen content in the soil. The application of a 3:1 mix of water and urine, once or twice or even three times a week on maize grown in 10 liter containers is very effective

Urine as Pesticide

Cattle urine can be used as a pesticide against insects, anti-viral agents, for instance against leaf curl in chillies (capsicum), and as an anti-fungal agent. A quantity of cattle urine is filtered and diluted in the ratio 1:6 and sprayed on the plants both as a cure and as a preventive. This mixture could be stronger for hardier plants like citrus and for paddy. .Cattle urine can kill the red and black beetle that attacks young coconut plants.

Practical recommendations on reuse

1.	Urine should be applied close to the ground to avoid aerosol formation, to avoid odour, foliar burns and the loss of ammonia.
2.	It should be incorporated into the soil, either mechanically or by subsequent addition of water.
3.	The nutrients are best utilized if the urine is applied prior to sowing and up until two-thirds of the period between sowing and harvest.

 

For Guidelines on the Use of Urine and Faeces in Crop Production:

Toilets That Make Compost : Low-cost, sanitary toilets that produce valuable compost for crops in an African context[C.eldoc1/d70d/undp1_070101zzz1B.pdf], www.ecosanres.org

Urine Diversion: One Step Towards Sustainable Sanitation by Kvarnstrom, Emilsson &Stintzing, StockholmEnvironment Institute Sweden, Jan 2006 [C.eldoc1/d70d/01jan06sei1.pdf], www.ecosanres.org