Worthy alternative

A new field experiment shows that fertiliser derived from faecal sludge can improve crop yields

- ATUN ROY CHOUDHURY, NEHA SINGH, NAMITA BANKA, N CHANDANA AND JITESH LALWANI

INDIA HAS constructed over 100 million household toilets under its Swachh Bharat Mission in recent years. While this has improved the country’s overall sanitation levels, it has thrown open the challenge of handling vast amounts of faecal sludge, the mixture of human excreta and water. One of the solutions lies in separating the solid and liquid components and treating them separately. The liquid can be decontaminated and used for irrigation and toilet flushing. The solid can be composted and pasteurised to make biosolids and used as organic fertiliser.

To understand the potential of faecal sludge as a fertiliser, we recently conducted a field trial in Alair, Telangana. Our experiment, conducted on okra cultivation, shows that the use of biosolids sourced from faecal sludge as organic fertiliser positively influences germination rates and enhances the growth and yield of plants. Biosolid generally contains high concentrations of macro and micronutrients essential for plant growth.

THE SETUP

The trial was conducted by growing okra on two soil beds, one with only red soil that is commonly used for farming in southern India (control bed) and the other with premixed biosolids and red soil in a 1:1 ratio (experimental bed).