It is important you find means to control pests and increase the
fertility of the soil if you truly want to be successful as an organic farmer;
not just any means but a cheap means. I am sure you do not want to produce at a
high cost. One of the cheapest sources of fertilizer and pesticide in organic
farming is the use of rabbit urine.
Rabbit used to be reared as a pet but the nutritional composition of
rabbit meat has created an untapped market for rabbit production. Farmers now
rear rabbit for meat and wool; further studies have shown that rabbit urine can
also serve as fertilizer and pesticide, improving the soil fertility of the
soil and controlling unruly crop pests, simultaneously. There is no waste in
rabbit production.
Composition of
Rabbit Urine
Rabbit droppings are rich sources of the primary nutrients needed by
plants, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. Rabbit waste is the end form of
rabbit feed; rabbits are normally fed with greens, which they convert
effectively to a rich matter as a result of the fermentation that takes place
in their caecum.
Rabbit urine contains the highest level of Nitrogen compared to
other farm animals; this is because rabbits barely drink water. The Phosphorus
and Potassium contents in rabbit urine are of appreciable level good enough to
eliminate deficiencies of these nutrients in the soil, hence, it enhances the
even growth of crops in an organic farm.
The microelements can also be sources from rabbit urine in good
quantities because rabbit, after eating, produces soft-pellet faeces rich in
amino acids and minerals, through a process called caecotrophy. These soft
pellet faeces is re-ingested by the rabbit to supply or supplement the
nutritional need of the rabbit.
Crops You Can
Use Rabbit Urine as Fertilizer and Pesticide
Because rabbit urine is very rich in nitrogen, it is very effective
on vegetable crops like cabbage, lettuces, cucumber, watermelon, and other
vegetables at any stage of growth. It can also be used at the early stage of
other crops like maize.
How to Apply
Rabbit Urine as Fertilizer
Here comes the subject of discussion. Like other fertilizers; there
are some processes and precautions you must take when you want to apply rabbit
urine as fertilizer.
Firstly, you need to either get the urine, directly from your rabbit
farm or purchase from rabbit farmers. A mature rabbit can produce up to 250ml
of urine per day; five (5) mature rabbits can produce up to one (1) litre of
urine per day.
Do not apply the rabbit urine directly on the crops, it is highly
concentrated and can scorch your crop; you need to dilute with water for safe
use. Rabbit urine is best used as fertilizer by mixing it with water at a ratio
of 1:5; that is, one (1) litre of the urine to five (5) litres of water.
There are different methods of fertilizer application, depending on
the type and nature of the fertilizer you want to apply. Because rabbit urine
fertilizer is in liquid form, it is best applied using fertigation or foliar
application.
Fertigation is a method of applying liquid fertilizer through irrigation
water; you mix the urine in the irrigation water at the recommended rate as
stated earlier. Foliar application is another method of applying fertilizers in
liquid form through the leaves and stem of the plant.
In fertigation, the rabbit urine is diluted with the irrigation
water and it is applied to the root zone using drip tubes or other means.
Alternatively, the foliar application applies the fertilizer to the leaves,
stems, at times, root region.
The advantages of fertigation are; it is easy to achieve, less time
consuming and application is done to the roots directly where the plants
utilize it. The advantage of the foliar application is; it allows the plants to
have easy access to the fertilizer, thereby, enhancing the perfect utilization
of the fertilizer. Plants absorb the fertilizers through parts like lenticels,
stomata aside from the roots. Although, it could be stressful and
time-consuming.
For the conventional 16 litres sprayer, you need 3.2 litres of
rabbit urine to 16 litres of water for perfect use.
Alternatively, you can add some materials to the rabbit urine to
make it more effective and nutritionally better. You can mix the rabbit urine
with maize starch and molasses and allow to ferment for 3 weeks before using
it.
After 3 weeks, the fertilizer is ready for use but at a different
rate of application. Dilute one litre of this mixture in 20 litres of water.
You can apply using any of the aforementioned methods of fertilizer
application.
How to Apply
Rabbit Urine as Pesticide
Rabbit urine can also be used as an organic pesticide. The
difference between synthetic pesticides and organic pesticides is just their
reaction with the target pests.
Synthetic pesticides kill the pests which, at times, may be
beneficial to the plants in terms of pollination while organic pesticides repel
the pests from the plant. Rabbit urine is an organic pesticide as it repels the
insect pass-through its pungent smell.
Rabbit urine repels insect pests like aphids, mites, bugs, leaf
miners, bugs and other crop pests of economic importance. You can only enjoy
the pesticide effect of rabbit urine when you apply using the foliar application.
It does the work of fertilizer and pest control.
Advantages of
using rabbit urine as fertilizers and pesticides
The following are the merits of using rabbit urine as fertilizers
and pesticides:
- It can be cheaply sourced
- It contains a high level of
nitrates, which the plants can derive enough nitrogen from.
- It is environmental
friendly and non-toxic.
Rabbit production can be very lucrative as it can create multiple streams
of income; if you rear rabbit for meat, you can as well try to add the urine as
an additional enterprise and source of income. Even if you do not have the
passion for crop production, you can sell to organic crop farmers at reasonable
prices.
With rabbit urine, the problem of fertilization and pest attack in
organic farming can be resolved at a low cost.
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