Nitin Gadkari’s urine therapy theory finds support from Bengaluru NGO

Bengaluru, May 7: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari rooting for urine therapy has found support from a city-based NGO which has cited a scientific study which found that human urine is a great source of nutrients and can be used as fertilizer.

As Mr. Gadkari’s human urine-linked gardening tip raised eyebrows and drew derision by some in social media, the theory was backed on Wednesday by Arghyam, a city-based public charitable foundation founded by Rohini Nilekani, wife of the former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani.

“A pioneering research study done by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru, and supported by Arghyam is topical and interesting in the light of today’s discussion around the use of human urine as fertilizer,” said a statement by Arghyam.

“This study provides evidence that human urine is, in fact, a great source of nutrients and can be used as fertilizer,” it said.

The research project on human urine was conducted at the Department of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry, UAS. It was part of doctoral study done by G. Sridevi under the guidance of C.A. Srinivasamurthy on the reuse of human urine in agriculture. The study tested the hypothesis that application of human urine as a nutrient source has a positive impact on soil properties and plant growth. This hypothesis was tested on three crops — maize, banana and radish. The finding of the study suggests that the use of human urine (in combination with gypsum) led to healthier crop growth, building of higher nutrient content and mass in the grain/fruit/root of the respective crops, and the cost-benefit ratio was found to be marginally better than chemical fertilizer, it said.