productive sanitation system project

Plot 2 Tagore Crescent, Kamwokya | Tel: 039 2 777 448 | Web: www.uweso.org, | E-mail:[email protected]

PRODUCTIVE SANITATION

SYSTEM PROJECT

Presented By: Fred Semyalo

e-mail: [email protected]

Food security and Nutrition Programme Manager, Uganda

Women’s Efforts to Save Orphans (Uweso).


Study site characteristics

The study was conducted at Migyera Uweso Training Institute (MUTI), in Nakasongola district, central Uganda.

This area lies in the Pastoral rangelands otherwise known as the ‘cattle corridor’ and is characterised by low rainfall (915 to 1021 mm) with two rainy seasons, March to May and Sept to Dec

Temperature ranges from 12.5 – 30C. Altitude ranges from 129 – 1,524 m and soils which are moderate to poor.

The area is dominated by mainly smallholders with a lot of communal grazing, agro pastoral practices, low literacy level, (Republic of Uganda, 2004).


-Nursery beds were established for 6 vegetable types

during May 2009.

-The seedlings were transplanted onto experimental plots of

4m x 2m (Table 1).

-Because it was off-season at the time of transplanting,

watering was necessary to support vegetable growth and

minimise the effects of the dry spell on vegetables during

the growing period.

Vegetable field establishment


Table 1. Summary of the crops planted

Crop Variety Spacing Transplanting date

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) Fordhook Giant 30cm X 30cm 17/06/09

Cabbage CopenHagen Market 45cm X 45cm 17/06/09

Kale (Brassica oleracea L.)

(Sukuma wiki, Swahili)

Georgia 45cm X 45cm 18/06/09

Tomato Rio Grande 45cm X 45cm 18/06/09

Eggplants (Solanum

Melongena L.)

45cm X 45cm 18/06/09

Carrots1 15cm X 10cm 19/06/09


• Three weeks after transplanting, the vegetables were

subjected to addition of urine-water mixtures in the ratios of

0:10, 1:9, 2:8 and 3:7 representing 0, 10, 20 and 30%

urine, respectively. • Each urine-water mixture was applied either once every

week or once every 2 weeks, giving a factorial

arrangement of urine concentration and application

frequency.

Urine Application


• Treatments were repeated four times (replicates) for each

crop, giving a total of 192 plots.

• The experimental design was a randomised complete

block, with urine concentration and application frequency

as the treatments.

• At time of application, each plot received 20 litres of the

diluted mixture.

Urine Application Cont


Picture showing urine- water application



The plots were watered three times a week to meet the crop water requirements.

The urine-water mixtures were applied for 10 weeks

. Figure 2 shows a sample of the field appearance of the experimental plots at 2 weeks after transplanting.


Data collection

Soil and urine samples were collected at the start of the experiment, for laboratory analysis of the chemical (pH, N, P, K) and biological (pathogen) composition.

The vegetables were harvested piece-meal between 3rd July and 28th September 2009.

Field data collected and recorded included. This included; number of leaves or fruits and weight per harvest per plot.


Data analysis

The data were statistically analysed using Genstat package version 3.2.

Significant differences between treatment means were determined at a 95% Confidence level and means separated using the standard error of difference (sed) procedure


Harvesting and weighing of vegetables at harvest.


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Characteristics of the soil, urine and water used in the study

- The soil was sandy clay loam texture, slightly acid with moderate organic matter and deficient in nitrogen

- Fresh urine had a pH of 8.6 and this was higher for 1 month old urine (9.5).

-The water used to dilute urine was from two sources: (stream water- PH 7.8, borehole water- PH 6.4 ). Both Sources had traces of N,P and K


Effect of urine application on vegetable yield

Total wt of leaves or fruits

%

urine

Weekly Every 2 wks

kg plot-1 kg ha-1 kg plot-1 kg ha-1

Spinach 0 2.9 3,637.5 4.4 5,487.5

10 8.2 10,275.0 7.7 9,575.0

20 5.2 6,462.5 2.4 2,937.5

30 7.9 9,900.0 6.2 7,750.0

Cabbage 0 4.0 4,975.0 6.7 8,412.5

10 12.9 16,112.5 2.4 2,987.5

20 7.6 9,537.5 3.6 4,475.0

30 7.2 8,975.0 3.7 4,675.0


Effect of urine application on vegetable yield cont

Crop & market price

% urine Weekly 2 (Every 2 wks)

Eggplants 0 2.3 2,925.0 3.7 4,562.5

10 4.7 5,812.5 1.3 1,650.0

20 0.2 212.5 2.2 2,712.5

30 1.6 2,025.0 1.5 1,887.5

Kale 0 12.1 15,112.5 13.8 17,225.0

10 5.9 7,400.0 16.5 20,650.0

20 6.7 8,325.0 14.3 17,925.0

30 14.7 18,412.5 4.1 5,100.0

Tomato 0 3.8 4,775.0 4.5 5,662.5

10 3.1 3,925.0 6.3 7,850.0

20 6.1 7,612.5 3.2 4,000.0

30 6.6 8,262.5 3.8 4,800.0


Summary of the findings

Application of 10% urine weekly significantly increased total cabbage yield from 3.98 kg to 12.89 per plot of 8 m2 [or 4,975 kg ha-1 to 16,113 kg ha-1] . Expected income from cabbage also increased from Ug. Shs. 3,975/= to 12,892/= per 8 m2 plot [or Ug. Shs. 4,968,750/= to 16,115,000/= per ha].

Weekly urine application at concentrations higher than 10% decreased cabbage yield (although not significantly).

Applying urine once every two weeks did not significantly affect cabbage yields.


Summary of the findings cont

Averaged over the two frequencies (weekly & every 2 weeks) urine application up to 20% had no significant effect on average leaf/fruit weight for all vegetables (spinach, kale, cabbage, eggplants, tomato). Increasing urine concentration to 30% decreased average cabbage head weight by 36% below the control.

Average cabbage head weight was significantly bigger on plots receiving urine weekly than where urine was applied once every 2 weeks (548 vs 427 g per head,).


Effect of urine application on tissue nutrient composition of vegetables

Spinach% urine Frequency Plant tissue nutrient composition in spinach

N P K Ca Mg

-------------------------- Percent ----------------------------

0 Control 2.3516 0.3461 4.3674 0.8365 1.1299

10 Once a week 3.2752 0.4529 4.2841 0.8294 1.0767

20 Once a week 2.5967 0.4129 4.1980 0.7689 0.9819

30 Once a week 2.4887 0.3881 4.6188 0.7509 1.0205

10 Every 2 weeks 2.7547 0.3095 4.5318 0.6571 1.0767

20 Every 2 weeks 3.1220 0.3290 5.0484 1.1512 1.1858

30 Every 2 weeks 2.8387 0.3995 4.6976 0.6852 0.9806

Sufficiency ranges1 3.0-4.0 0.3-0.5 2.5-3.5 0.6-1.0 1.0-1.6


Effect of urine application on spinach leaf nutrient composition

Eggplant fruits% urine Frequency N P K Ca Mg

--------------------- Percent ----------------------------

0 Control 2.3883 0.3386 3.4323 0.2295 0.2945

10 Once a week 2.3337 0.3348 3.5108 0.2194 0.3094

20 Once a week 3.8087 0.4896 4.6527 0.3570 0.4490

30 Once a week 3.6586 0.5573 5.9689 0.5821 0.5632

10 Once every two

weeks

2.2173 0.3155 3.2080 0.1377 0.2683

20 Once every two

weeks

3.4047 0.4689 4.7595 0.2770 0.4979

30 Once every two

weeks

2.8069 0.3527 3.7980 0.2570 0.3365

Literature values2 2.1000 0.3100 3.0000 0.1200 0.2300


Effect of urine application on the nutrient composition of cabbage

% urine Frequency Plant tissue nutrient composition in cabbage

N P K Ca

----------------------- Percent ------------------------

0 Control 2.7090 0.3530 3.5629 1.1942

10 Once a week 3.0868 0.3816 3.6553 0.9732

20 Once a week 2.5817 0.3268 2.6108 0.7857

30 Once a week 3.1452 0.4062 3.8188 1.1872

10 Once every two weeks

3.5007 0.4055 3.6831 0.8604


2.3554 0.3326 3.7753 0.8630


3.6056 0.3965 3.2678 1.0809

Literature

values3

3.5-4.5 0.2-0.6 3.0-4.0 0.5-1.0 0.2-0.4


Summary of the findings

Optimum spinach leaf N content was attained at 10% urine applied weekly or 20% urine applied once every 2 weeks. However, at optimum spinach leaf weight (23g) the leaf N content was higher for weekly applied urine than once applied once in 2 weeks (3.3% vs 3.0), giving the former as a better quality food material than the latter.


Conclusions

Human urine contains nitrogen in a readily available solution form.

The benefits of nitrogen in urine (e.g. increased cabbage yields and head size) are better observed where the urine is applied more frequently (e.g. weekly) rather than once in 2 weeks.


Way forward

Involve the wider community in PSS project Conduct a vigorous campaign regarding

the use of human waste in crop production Ensure that all proposals have the aspect

of PSS.

THANK YOUMWEBALE NYO

productive sanitation system project

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