Human hair as fertilizer

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Human hair as fertilizer?

Yes, initial findings of two studies done by researchers at the Benguet State University (BSU) here point to the potential of human hair in promoting the growth and yield of food crops.

One study, titled Growth and Yield of Green Onion Applied with Different Rates of Human Hair, was done by Manuel Carias Jr.

The other, titled Growth and Yield of Cabbage cv. Scorpio Applied with Difference Rates of Human Hair, was conducted by Ben Tomas.

Both studies had Silvestre Kudan as adviser.

In their reports though, Carias and Tomas recommended that further studies be made on the use of human hair as fertilizer.

Carias’ study was done in plastic pots to evaluate the growth and yield of green onion with different rates of human hair and to determine the best rate what will provide sufficient nitrogen for green onions.

Among the significant results of the study are the following:

• The application of 7.5 to 12.5 grams of human hair per five kilograms of soil or three to five tons of human hair per hectare has similar performance with chicken dung plus 14-14-14 (complete fertilizer) in final plant height and number of suckers or split per bunch, but was significantly surpassed by plants applied with chicken dung plus 14-14-14 in the weight per bunch, total and computed yield per hectare.

• The application of five grams of human hair per five kgs. of soil or two tons per hectare did not differ from 7.5 g human hair or three tons of human hair per hectare, and those plants applied with fertilizer in all the parameters measured in the experiment, except the number of suckers per bunch which was similar to all the treatments.

Based on the study’s results, Carias concluded: "Human hair as fertilizer can promote growth and yield of green onion when applied at higher rates such as 10 to 12.5 grams of human hair per five kgs. of soil or four to five tons of human hair per hectare, but this rate of application cannot compare with the use of chicken dung plus 14-14-14."

Although he said that human hair can be used as organic fertilizer for green onion, he admitted that "there are still things to be verified."

For instance, he recommended that additional studies be done to determine the duration of hair decomposition to release nutrient for plant use; combining hair with inorganic fertilizer, and applying human hair as fertilizer material for ornamentals and cutflowers.

Tomas’ study was aimed at determining the growth and yield of cabbage cv. Scorpio applied with different rates of human hair, and to identify the best rate of human hair that provides adequate nitrogen to cabbage.

"The percentage of heading and weight of wrapper leaves showed that plants without fertilizer application had significantly lower results than the plants applied with human hair and chicken dung plus urea," he said.

He added that the plants without fertilizer application had smaller leaves with light green color compared to the plants applied with human hair and chicken dung plus urea which had wide leaves and were dark green.

Based on his study’s results, Tomas concluded: "The application of two to three kilograms of human hair per plot of one meter by five meter has similar effect as that of chicken dung plus urea in a soil containing 2.5 percent organic matter."

He also recommended that the study be verified using pot experiment with soil low in nutrient.