2 Belagavi students, Khushi and Reminika, develop fertiliser from human hair

In one of its kind instances, Khushi Angolkar and Reminika Yadav, Class 9 students of Kendriya Vidyalaya-2 in Belagavi have grown vegetables using fertiliser developed from human hair.

A long journey of research

In connection with their innovative project, four months ago, they started their research at ICMR-National Institute of Traditional Medicine, Belagavi, under the supervision of scientist Dr Harsha of ICAR.  Further, they also got guidance from scientists Sridevi Angadi, Pravin Yadahalli and Shantappa Varad of ICAR- KLE Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mattikopp.

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After some initial research, they found that human hair contains a good amount of nutrients required to enhance plant growth and they produced a liquid organic fertilizer. In addition to that, they also conducted field experiments to see if it worked. The experiments were conducted by sowing tomato, cabbage and chilli seeds and the results were encouraging.

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Their idea picked up pace when it stood out as a unique innovation at the state-level children’s science event, after which they were selected for national children’s science congress. The formula was further used to grow spinach on the premises of Lingaraj College.

The two students cultivated spinach in 24 plots (2m X 1m each). While 50 per cent of the cultivated area was treated with their hair fertiliser twice, traditional organic fertiliser was used in the remaining 50 per cent of the field. It was surprising to see that after 45 days, he crop cultivated using their fertiliser weighed 2.3 kg while the same crop when grown using a traditional fertilizer weighed just 1.7 kg.

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The duo are further set to present their research works in the KV national children science competition which is scheduled to be held in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh on November 25.

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