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Now manure made using hair

CHANDIGARH: Organic, odour-free fertilizers have been successfully prepared from human hair and bird-feathers by a team of researchers from Panjab University and Punjab State Council for Science and Technology.

The team comprises Prof. R.K. Kohli of the Department of Environment and Science at Panjab University, Parikshit Bansal from National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), and Jatinder Arora of Punjab State Council for Science and Technology.

Prof. Kohli, in whose name the technology has been patented, said,“I hope that our findings will solve the major global environmental pollution problems caused by mammalian hair or bird feather and an abhorrent weed called Parthenium Hysterophorus (a kind of congress grass).”.

Prof. Kohli said the idea came to him after reading an article on a wig-making village near Tirupati where a majority of people suffered from asthma, “I thought, why is hair not bio-degradable; it is a part of the human body and is basically organic. That’s when I thought of using vermin technology, which I was using on Parthenium Hysterophorus that is also non-degradable, because certain enzymes can degrade dead protein. I was successful.” “Now I laugh at how easy it was and wonder why nobody ever tried it?” he added.

The technology solves the problem of disposal of human hair that release toxic elements into the air, when burned and contaminate drinking water supplies, when dumped in rivers. This technology generates odourless and disease-free fertilizer by using earthworms to convert human hair and bird feathers into an organic fertilizer.

Prof. Kohli added that, “The manure has commercial feasibility as it is rich in nitrogen, better for the soil’s productivity and most of all it can be prepared at home. Even people, who don’t have a garden, can use an ordinary earthen pot.”

The two researchers along with Arora developed another technology to solve the problem of pollution caused by congress grass.

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