Urine application with drip irrigation (Juerg Merz)
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.
สถานที่: Midhills districts of Nepal, เนปาล
ตำนวนการวิเคราะห์เทคโนโลยี:
การเผยแพร่ของเทคโนโลยี: กระจายไปอย่างสม่ำเสมอในพื้นที่
In a permanently protected area?:
วันที่ในการดำเนินการ:
ประเภทของการแนะนำ
| ปัจจัยนำเข้า | หน่วย | ปริมาณ | ค่าใช้จ่ายต่อหน่วย (USD) | ค่าใช้จ่ายทั้งหมดต่อปัจจัยนำเข้า (USD) | %ของค่าใช้จ่ายที่ก่อให้เกิดขึ้นโดยผู้ใช้ที่ดิน |
| แรงงาน | |||||
| Collect urine and prepare irrigation system | persons/unit | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 100.0 |
| อุปกรณ์ | |||||
| Drip set | unit | 1.0 | 36.0 | 36.0 | 100.0 |
| Drum | unit | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 100.0 |
| วัสดุสำหรับก่อสร้าง | |||||
| Stakes | unit | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 100.0 |
| ค่าใช้จ่ายทั้งหมดของการจัดตั้งเทคโนโลยี | 50.0 | ||||
| Total costs for establishment of the Technology in USD | 50.0 | ||||
| ปัจจัยนำเข้า | หน่วย | ปริมาณ | ค่าใช้จ่ายต่อหน่วย (USD) | ค่าใช้จ่ายทั้งหมดต่อปัจจัยนำเข้า (USD) | %ของค่าใช้จ่ายที่ก่อให้เกิดขึ้นโดยผู้ใช้ที่ดิน |
| แรงงาน | |||||
| Maintain drip irrigatio nsystem and apply urine | persons/unit | 15.0 | 2.0 | 30.0 | 100.0 |
| ค่าใช้จ่ายทั้งหมดของการบำรุงรักษาสภาพเทคโนโลยี | 30.0 | ||||
| Total costs for maintenance of the Technology in USD | 30.0 | ||||
reduced expenses for agrochemicals (fertilisers, pesticides)
reduced influx of nutrients into water bodies
