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Eco-sanitation and its benefits: an experimental demonstration program to raise awareness in central Nepal

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Abstract

This study focuses on awareness and an experimental demonstration about the use of human urine and wood ash as a fertilizer. This study was conducted in Chanauta, central Nepal, from November 2009 to February 2010. The villagers (N = 27) were asked about their awareness of eco-sanitation and fertilizer value of urine and ash. All the participants agreed that the use of urine and ash was a good idea. In the experimental study, the fertilizer value of urine+ash was compared with animal manure and no-fertilizer in the cultivation of radish, potato, broadleaf mustard, cauliflower, and cabbage. Different plants cultivated plots received 54–81 kgN/ha with urine+ash or manure fertilizer. The urine+ash fertilizer produced significantly (p < 0.05) higher broadleaf mustard biomass than obtained from animal manure and without fertilization. Urine+ash-fertilized plots growing radish, potato, cauliflower, and cabbage produced similar or slightly higher yields biomass compared to those achieved with manure fertilization. This might be because of high P, K as well as greater availability of N in applied urine compared to manure. It is concluded that urine+ash fertilizer can be used instead of animal manure; in this study, a dose of 4 L of urine was equal to 1 kg of dry cattle manure and produced a similar or greater yield of vegetable biomass than manure fertilization. To be able to generalize this conclusion, it is important to conduct these kinds of experiments with different seasonal crops and in other parts of the world.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the villagers and teachers from the study area for their cooperative co-work and also to Dr Ewen MacDonald for language correction. We express our thanks to Alli Paasikivi Foundation and the University of Eastern Finland (former University of Kuopio) for financial support for this program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Forestry, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, PO Box 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    Surendra K. Pradhan & Helvi Heinonen-Tanski

  2. Department of Zoology, Birendra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Chitawan, Nepal

    Ram Chandra Piya

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  1. Surendra K. Pradhan
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  2. Ram Chandra Piya
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  3. Helvi Heinonen-Tanski
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Correspondence to Surendra K. Pradhan.

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Pradhan, S.K., Piya, R.C. & Heinonen-Tanski, H. Eco-sanitation and its benefits: an experimental demonstration program to raise awareness in central Nepal. Environ Dev Sustain 13, 507–518 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-010-9273-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-010-9273-5

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