TY - JOUR
T1 - Human Urine as a Fertilizer in the Cultivation of Snap Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and Turnips (Brassica rapa)
AU - Pandorf, Madelyn
AU - Hochmuth, George
AU - Boyer, Treavor H.
N1 - Funding Information:
*Tel.: 1-727-417-3764. E-mail: mpandorf@asu.edu. ORCID Madelyn Pandorf: 0000-0003-4833-1725 Treavor H. Boyer: 0000-0003-0818-5604 Funding This publication is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation, NSF CAREER grant CBET-1150790, and the University Scholars Program at the University of Florida (2015). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF. Notes The authors declare no competing financial interest.
PY - 2019/1/9
Y1 - 2019/1/9
N2 - The main reason for implementing human urine diversion is to produce a local and renewable source of fertilizer for agriculture. Accordingly, the goal of this research was to compare human urine fertilizer and synthetic fertilizer in the cultivation of snap beans and turnips by evaluating the yield, plant tissue chemical composition, nutrient uptake efficiency, soil nutrient content, and leachate nutrient content between plots. Four fertilizer treatments were evaluated: (1) synthetic fertilizer, (2) urine supplemented with synthetic fertilizer, (3) urine only, and (4) a no-fertilizer control, referred to as treatments 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Plants fertilized by treatments 1 and 2 produced the highest yield for fall turnips and spring snap beans. The turnip yield for the urine-only treatment was significantly higher than the no-fertilizer control. Overall, the results showed that supplemented urine fertilizer can be used as an alternative to synthetic fertilizer with comparable yields, and urine-only fertilizer can significantly increase yields over the no-fertilizer control. The results also suggest that nutrients in urine are available in a form favorable for plant uptake.
AB - The main reason for implementing human urine diversion is to produce a local and renewable source of fertilizer for agriculture. Accordingly, the goal of this research was to compare human urine fertilizer and synthetic fertilizer in the cultivation of snap beans and turnips by evaluating the yield, plant tissue chemical composition, nutrient uptake efficiency, soil nutrient content, and leachate nutrient content between plots. Four fertilizer treatments were evaluated: (1) synthetic fertilizer, (2) urine supplemented with synthetic fertilizer, (3) urine only, and (4) a no-fertilizer control, referred to as treatments 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Plants fertilized by treatments 1 and 2 produced the highest yield for fall turnips and spring snap beans. The turnip yield for the urine-only treatment was significantly higher than the no-fertilizer control. Overall, the results showed that supplemented urine fertilizer can be used as an alternative to synthetic fertilizer with comparable yields, and urine-only fertilizer can significantly increase yields over the no-fertilizer control. The results also suggest that nutrients in urine are available in a form favorable for plant uptake.
KW - human urine fertilizer
KW - leachate
KW - lettuce
KW - snap beans
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059422351&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85059422351&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b06011
DO - 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b06011
M3 - Article
C2 - 30512939
AN - SCOPUS:85059422351
SN - 0021-8561
VL - 67
SP - 50
EP - 62
JO - Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
JF - Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
IS - 1
ER -