Urine application with drip irrigation (Juerg Merz)

Urine application through drip irrigation for bitter gourd production (Nepal)

Karela kheti ma thopa sinchai ko satha ma pasu mutra ko prayog (Nepali)

Description

Application of cattle urine through drip irrigation technology to provide constant flow of fertiliser to bitter gourd

Bitter gourd vegetables fetch a high price in the off-season and respond well if grown with drip irrigation. This crop is planted in December/January and harvested from May through to July/August. The growing period mainly falls in the driest period of the year and therefore requires irrigation.
In addition to water, the plants need fertiliser to ensure healthy growth and good production. Nitrogen is the most important macronutrient for plants and high crop productivity can only be achieved if sufficient nitrogen is available. Nitrogen is also the most limiting nutrient in most areas of Nepal’s midhills. Traditionally farmers applied farmyard manure; but in many places this is being supplemented or entirely replaced by inorganic fertiliser, mainly urea. However, fertiliser prices have increased substantially in recent years and this type of fertiliser is often not available in sufficient quantities in areas away from the roadheads. At the same time cultivation practices are intensifying with greater cropping intensities and more nutrient demanding crops as local varieties are replaced by hybrids and new crops are introduced. This can easily lead to nutrient mining and soil fertility decline unless there is an equivalent increase in inorganic or mineral fertilisation.
Cattle urine is a viable alternative to mineral fertiliser; it is nitrogen rich. The urine is collected in improved cattle sheds (fact sheet on urine collection QT NEP1). For constant fertiliser application and to reduce the water requirement, the collected urine can be added to the irrigation water in the drip irrigation tanks (fertigation). Farmers who have tried this say it has increased the yield of bitter gourd and other cash crops, in some cases by as much as 100%. Other crops that can be grown using drip irrigation with a water-urine mixture are cauliflower, cucumber, and other types of gourd.

Location

Location: Midhills districts of Nepal, Nepal

No. of Technology sites analysed:

Geo-reference of selected sites
  • 85.0, 27.0

Spread of the Technology: evenly spread over an area

In a permanently protected area?:

Date of implementation:

Type of introduction

Classification of the Technology

Main purpose
  • improve production
  • reduce, prevent, restore land degradation
  • conserve ecosystem
  • protect a watershed/ downstream areas – in combination with other Technologies
  • preserve/ improve biodiversity
  • reduce risk of disasters
  • adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts
  • mitigate climate change and its impacts
  • create beneficial economic impact
  • create beneficial social impact
Land use

  • Cropland
    • Annual cropping: vegetables - melon, pumpkin, squash or gourd
Water supply
  • rainfed
  • mixed rainfed-irrigated
  • full irrigation
Purpose related to land degradation
  • prevent land degradation
  • reduce land degradation
  • restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land
  • adapt to land degradation
  • not applicable
Degradation addressed
  • chemical soil deterioration - Cn: fertility decline and reduced organic matter content (not caused by erosion)
SLM group
  • integrated soil fertility management
SLM measures
  • management measures - M2: Change of management/ intensity level

Technical drawing

Technical specifications
The following setup was used in Iman Singh Basnet’s fi eld:
- two drip irrigation sets: one set with
8 lines, one with 4 lines
- a 200 l plastic drum
- 20 bitter gourd plants per line with
1.5m spacing between lines
- approximate area covered: 200m2
Note that the drum was not delivered with the drip irrigation set. Mr Basnet uses the same drum for irrigating other crops where drip irrigation is not feasible, in which case he connects a pipe with a rose to the drum.

Technical knowledge required for field staff / advisors: low

Technical knowledge required for land users: low

Main technical functions: supplementary irrigation, constant and slow supply of nutrients, increase in soil fertility & increase in soil productivity

Secondary technical functions: pest control

Establishment and maintenance: activities, inputs and costs

Calculation of inputs and costs
  • Costs are calculated: per Technology unit (unit: Drip irrigation system volume, length: 200 l plastic drum; 20 bitter gourd plants per line with 1.5m spacing between lines)
  • Currency used for cost calculation: USD
  • Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = n.a
  • Average wage cost of hired labour per day: 2.00
Most important factors affecting the costs
n.a.
Establishment activities
  1. Prepare and place stakes (Timing/ frequency: None)
  2. Collect urine (see WOCAT fact sheet ‘Improved cattle shed for improved urine collection – QT NEP1) (Timing/ frequency: None)
  3. Grow bitter gourd seedlings (Timing/ frequency: None)
  4. Set up drip irrigation set and prepare field (Timing/ frequency: None)
  5. Transplant seedlings (Timing/ frequency: None)
Establishment inputs and costs (per Drip irrigation system)
Specify input Unit Quantity Costs per Unit (USD) Total costs per input (USD) % of costs borne by land users
Labour
Collect urine and prepare irrigation system persons/unit 2.0 2.0 4.0 100.0
Equipment
Drip set unit 1.0 36.0 36.0 100.0
Drum unit 1.0 4.0 4.0 100.0
Construction material
Stakes unit 1.0 6.0 6.0 100.0
Total costs for establishment of the Technology 50.0
Total costs for establishment of the Technology in USD 50.0
Maintenance activities
  1. Clear drip holes (Timing/ frequency: None)
  2. Double filter the urine – once when taking out of the collection tank, and again when pouring into the drip irrigation tank (Timing/ frequency: None)
  3. Irrigate every alternate day with 160 l water and 40 l urine. (Timing/ frequency: None)
  4. Fix shoots to the stakes (Timing/ frequency: None)
  5. Raise ridges for better irrigation efficiency (Timing/ frequency: None)
  6. Harvest the crop (Timing/ frequency: None)
Maintenance inputs and costs (per Drip irrigation system)
Specify input Unit Quantity Costs per Unit (USD) Total costs per input (USD) % of costs borne by land users
Labour
Maintain drip irrigatio nsystem and apply urine persons/unit 15.0 2.0 30.0 100.0
Total costs for maintenance of the Technology 30.0
Total costs for maintenance of the Technology in USD 30.0

Natural environment

Average annual rainfall
  • < 250 mm
  • 251-500 mm
  • 501-750 mm
  • 751-1,000 mm
  • 1,001-1,500 mm
  • 1,501-2,000 mm
  • 2,001-3,000 mm
  • 3,001-4,000 mm
  • > 4,000 mm
Agro-climatic zone
  • humid
  • sub-humid
  • semi-arid
  • arid
Specifications on climate
Thermal climate class: subtropics
Slope
  • flat (0-2%)
  • gentle (3-5%)
  • moderate (6-10%)
  • rolling (11-15%)
  • hilly (16-30%)
  • steep (31-60%)
  • very steep (>60%)
Landforms
  • plateau/plains
  • ridges
  • mountain slopes
  • hill slopes
  • footslopes
  • valley floors
Altitude
  • 0-100 m a.s.l.
  • 101-500 m a.s.l.
  • 501-1,000 m a.s.l.
  • 1,001-1,500 m a.s.l.
  • 1,501-2,000 m a.s.l.
  • 2,001-2,500 m a.s.l.
  • 2,501-3,000 m a.s.l.
  • 3,001-4,000 m a.s.l.
  • > 4,000 m a.s.l.
Technology is applied in
  • convex situations
  • concave situations
  • not relevant
Soil depth
  • very shallow (0-20 cm)
  • shallow (21-50 cm)
  • moderately deep (51-80 cm)
  • deep (81-120 cm)
  • very deep (> 120 cm)
Soil texture (topsoil)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Soil texture (> 20 cm below surface)
  • coarse/ light (sandy)
  • medium (loamy, silty)
  • fine/ heavy (clay)
Topsoil organic matter content
  • high (>3%)
  • medium (1-3%)
  • low (<1%)
Groundwater table
  • on surface
  • < 5 m
  • 5-50 m
  • > 50 m
Availability of surface water
  • excess
  • good
  • medium
  • poor/ none
Water quality (untreated)
  • good drinking water
  • poor drinking water (treatment required)
  • for agricultural use only (irrigation)
  • unusable
Is salinity a problem?
  • Yes
  • No

Occurrence of flooding
  • Yes
  • No
Species diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low
Habitat diversity
  • high
  • medium
  • low

Characteristics of land users applying the Technology

Market orientation
  • subsistence (self-supply)
  • mixed (subsistence/ commercial)
  • commercial/ market
Off-farm income
  • less than 10% of all income
  • 10-50% of all income
  • > 50% of all income
Relative level of wealth
  • very poor
  • poor
  • average
  • rich
  • very rich
Level of mechanization
  • manual work
  • animal traction
  • mechanized/ motorized
Sedentary or nomadic
  • Sedentary
  • Semi-nomadic
  • Nomadic
Individuals or groups
  • individual/ household
  • groups/ community
  • cooperative
  • employee (company, government)
Gender
  • women
  • men
Age
  • children
  • youth
  • middle-aged
  • elderly
Area used per household
  • < 0.5 ha
  • 0.5-1 ha
  • 1-2 ha
  • 2-5 ha
  • 5-15 ha
  • 15-50 ha
  • 50-100 ha
  • 100-500 ha
  • 500-1,000 ha
  • 1,000-10,000 ha
  • > 10,000 ha
Scale
  • small-scale
  • medium-scale
  • large-scale
Land ownership
  • state
  • company
  • communal/ village
  • group
  • individual, not titled
  • individual, titled
Land use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Water use rights
  • open access (unorganized)
  • communal (organized)
  • leased
  • individual
Access to services and infrastructure

Impacts

Socio-economic impacts
Crop production
decreased
x
increased

expenses on agricultural inputs
increased
x
decreased


reduced expenses for agrochemicals (fertilisers, pesticides)

Allows organic production of high value crops
disabled
x
enabled

establishment costs
high
x
low

Socio-cultural impacts
social prestige as a progressive farmer
decreased
x
increased

requires handling of dung and urine
increased
x
decreased

Ecological impacts
application of agrochemicals (fertilisers, pesticides)
improved
x
reduced

eutrophication, nitrification of water bodies due to uncontrolled outflow of urine
increased
x
decreased

Off-site impacts
groundwater/ river pollution
increased
x
reduced


reduced influx of nutrients into water bodies

dependence on costly external inputs
improved
x
reduced

Cost-benefit analysis

Benefits compared with establishment costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Benefits compared with maintenance costs
Short-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

Long-term returns
very negative
x
very positive

The high cost of mineral fertiliser and the high price that bitter gourd fetches means that the establishment costs are soon recovered. In the long-term, a major reduction in fertiliser costs and improved income leads to increased benefits.

Climate change

-

Adoption and adaptation

Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology
  • single cases/ experimental
  • 1-10%
  • 11-50%
  • > 50%
Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have done so without receiving material incentives?
  • 0-10%
  • 11-50%
  • 51-90%
  • 91-100%
Has the Technology been modified recently to adapt to changing conditions?
  • Yes
  • No
To which changing conditions?
  • climatic change/ extremes
  • changing markets
  • labour availability (e.g. due to migration)

Conclusions and lessons learnt

Strengths: land user's view
Strengths: compiler’s or other key resource person’s view
  • Urine as a liquid manure is applied at the same time as irrigation (fertigation)

    How can they be sustained / enhanced? The link between urine application and drip irrigation
    or other forms of small scale irrigation needs to be promoted
  • The on-farm use of collected urine reduced the need for mineral fertiliser thereby reducing cash expenditure and outside dependency

    How can they be sustained / enhanced? Further promote the technology to increase this impact
  • Human urine can also be used, but needs to be fermented longer and may be socially less acceptable

    How can they be sustained / enhanced? Further promote the use of urine and show that
    there is no problem with using human urine
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: land user's viewhow to overcome
Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks: compiler’s or other key resource person’s viewhow to overcome
  • The initial establishment costs for a drip irrigation set may hinder adoption Prepare a business plan and calculate the cost-benefi t to
    convince farmers of the technology’s benefi ts
  • Lack of availability of urine may inhibit the commercial application of urine with drip irrigation Urine needs to be established as a tradeable good produced by livestock farmers and bought by vegetable farmers to apply to their crops

References

Compiler
  • Richard Allen
Editors
Reviewer
  • David Streiff
  • Alexandra Gavilano
Date of documentation: June 7, 2011
Last update: June 4, 2019
Resource persons
Full description in the WOCAT database
Linked SLM data
Documentation was faciliated by
Institution Project
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareaAlike 4.0 International