Effect of Human Urine on Soil pH in Ndele, South-South of Nigeria

The widespread challenges across the globe of producing sufficient food for the satisfaction of humans in this highly populated world needs exploring and expanding new approach of research in the agricultural sector of the economy. Our domesticated method of using chemical fertilizers to improve soil quality for food production can no longer be depended upon as a result its adverse effect on soil pH. Application of ammonium (NH+4) fertilizers to the soil react in the soil in a nitrification process to develop nitrate (NO-2) and through that process release H+ to the soil whereby making the soil to be acidic in nature. Therefore, this research was carried out to investigate the effect of human urine on soil pH. The design for this experiment was arranged in a completely randomized block design with four treatments with control of (0gNha-1) and 150gNha-1of human urine. The treatments were replicated four times to give a total of twenty (20) pots filled with 10kg of soil each. The experimental results of the study showed the increase of the chemical properties of human urine in the treated pots suggests that human urine for the treatment of soil can be used to increase soil pH and also act as a fertilizer by improving soil nutrients. The result obtained show that there was significantly (P<0.05) on the effect of urine on soil pH compared with the control. It is recommended that human urine that has been seen as a waste and nuisance to the environment could be trapped and used as fertilizer for soil treatment by the famers.
Editorial note: The original experimental design, treatment rates, study location, observations, numerical results, and conclusions have been retained. The manuscript has been edited for academic English and APA 7th presentation. Contemporary peer-reviewed literature has been added separately so that the original findings are not silently altered.

human urine; urine reuse; urine-derived fertiliser; nutrient recovery; source separation; sustainable agriculture; circular economy; sanitation safety.

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