Cattle waste: A farmer shows the process of making home-produced liquid bio-urine fertilizer in Peguyangan Kaja village in the Balinese capital of Denpasar. JP/Wasti Atmodjo

During the past year, a number of farmers in Peguyangan Kaja village in the Balinese capital of Denpasar have been experimenting with organic agriculture by using manure and home-produced liquid bio-urine fertilizer, in line with their increasing knowledge about the benefits of cattle waste.

Peguyangan Kaja village head Wayan Sutama said bio-urine was cow urine that had had its ammonia removed or minimized through a simple method – necessarily simple given their limited technological know-how, facilities and cattle.

It is processed by means of three tanks, each 1 meter across and 2 meters deep. The tanks are placed close to each other on one side of a cow barn, and connected through channels near the bottom of the tank.

According to Sutama, the position of the first tank, which collects the cow urine, is adjusted to fit the drain from the cow barn. The second tank, where the liquid waste is processed into bio-urine, functions as a circulation tank.

The tanks are covered with removable asbestos to prevent unpleasant odors. When the first tank is full, the liquid waste is channeled into the second tank so the first can be refilled.

The liquid in the circulation tank is treated with a chemical to remove the ammonia. This liquid is then electrically pumped with normal pressure into the third tank. “This procedure will also further eliminate the ammonia,” Sutama explained.

It takes 21 days to process the liquid waste into bio-urine fertilizer, which is characterized by its weak odor and pale color. “The fairly long time sometimes means the first tank is full before the second is ready. So we plan to use larger tanks,” he said.

Cattle breeders also turn solid waste into manure.

Sutama is one of five members of the Bija Lestari cattle breeding group in the area of Banjar Benbiyu. The group has only six cows among them, which produce a total of between 300 and 500 liters of bio-urine and around 1 ton of manure each month.

“The cows, which were originally owned and raised by individual farmers, are now kept in one barn that we built together for Rp 8 million,” he said. The barn is complete with the three bio-urine processing tanks and a 6-square-meter box for making manure.

Sutama owned a less productive plot used only for banana trees. Since the five farmers agreed to set up the breeders’ group, this land is now being used as the site for the collective barn.

“We have just a few members, while the rest aren’t really interested yet,” he said. “Most residents here are not full-time farmers even though they have farms and cattle. I’m not one either. Many of them choose to become employees or businessmen.”

But he did express his delight at the emergence of three other groups in the village: Sewaka Mandiri, Dharma Kanti, and Sewaka Organik.

Given the enthusiasm and commitment of the group participants, Denpasar Mayor IB Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra recently declared Peguyangan Kaja village a model of integrated agriculture. The city administration is now helping them to build better bio-urine and manure production facilities.

“In fact, he was the first to inform us about the benefits of liquid waste while he was serving as deputy mayor,” Sutama said. “We were also taken to a cow-breeding center where solid and liquid waste were turned into organic fertilizer.”

To convince the other farmers of the importance of forming groups and processing cattle waste, a demonstration vegetable garden plot is being kept around the Bija Lestari cow barn, using the organic fertilizer. Sutama also uses it on his family’s pacar air flowers (Impatiens balsamina or garden balsam).

Sutama’s practice is to mix 1 liter of bio-urine with 30 liters of water to spray a 10-acre paddy field. His vegetable plot, he said, “has turned out good harvests and the yields are sold at vegetable stalls around the villages”.

According to Ketut Tini and Ni Wayan Trima, who are in charge of running the barn and selling the vegetables, many buyers were doubtful at first. “Some felt disgusted as they imagined urine being sprayed over plants. But now they’ve changed and the vegetables sell well because they have longer stalks and broader leaves, and look fresher,” said Tini.

The young woman added that her family’s paddy yields were also better than in previous harvests. “We grew paddy on a plot of 1.5 acres with manure and bio-urine, although a little bit of chemical fertilizer was used at this trial stage. What came out were wider leaves and bigger grains. They’re quite different from those on our other plots.”

As well as using the fertilizer themselves, the group members sell it; the bulk of the fertilizer is sold. The liquid fertilizer is priced at Rp 2,500 per liter. For easy packing, Sutama’s group has prepared plastic cans in sizes ranging from 1 liter to 30 liters.

Among the group’s customers are the City Planning Office and the Agriculture Office of Denpasar, which use it for their park plants and model gardens, although the two offices have limited their annual purchase to 300 liters of bio-urine and 30 tons of manure a year.

“It’s a form of Denpasar’s marketing assistance,” Sutama said.

Marketing opportunities are also available when the city holds an agricultural fair, such as the one held on the occasion of Denpasar’s 17th anniversary in February.

Sutama and his group are further expanding the marketing for their fertilizer by collaborating with the sellers of ornamental plants in Denpasar and the strawberry growers in Tabanan. The Agriculture Office is also helping create arrangements with farmers in other villages.

“Marketing actually becomes our constraint. Now around 7,000 liters of our bio-urine remains unsold,” Sutama said, who is nevertheless optimistic about his business prospects. After all, bio-urine has no expiry date. “The longer it is kept, the more effective it will be....”

In the future, he wishes to develop Peguyangan Kaja into a zone for agricultural tourism, where visitors can learn about bio-urine production and its advantages, with the primary aim being to raise awareness about an environmentally friendly system of organic agriculture, rather than merely making money.

Popular

To my horror, it’s just a movie!

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Pentagon chief congratulates Prabowo on being elected President