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PRESENTATION BY RCE MINNA
ON
THE USE OF USED DIAPERS (PAMPERS) AS SOIL
CONDITIONER
BY
ABDUL HUSAIN
.
Introduction.
The project is on the use of used baby
nappies/diapers for agricultural / horticultural
purposes.
The use of water crystals in agriculture is not new,
and is well documented.
The recycling of used (cheap!) diapers for treeplanting and potted plants is practically unheard of.
Objective.
This project, which is under the flagship of the RCE
Minna is to show how used nappies (or diapers) can
serve as soil conditioner, helping to save our
environment and the people economically.
The idea is to utilize the water-absorbing
crystals/powder found in diapers as water absorbents
that can sustain plants and reduce water wastage. These
water absorbent crystals are also called water crystals,
super absorbent polymer, diaper polymer or
polyacrylate).
Preliminary outcome .
From preliminary work we conducted, we have seen
that the efficiency of the nappies in retaining water for
plant is very significant. In our opinion, this can go a
long way in solving the ‘unsuccessful’ annual rituals of
tree planting campaigns in the northern part of Nigeria
that never survived the next dry season due to water
shortage.
Start Date of the Experiment in the Observation field 22nd Feb. 2012
Plants No. of Potted Plants
Type
Average Stem length
(height) Of plant (cm)
Average
Average Shades
Stem (mm) No. Of of
Thickness leaves
Green
(Diameter)
PP7Dx
13
45.35
0.084
7.62
All
Green
BB7Dx
12
50.53
0.088
9.50
All
Green
PP4Dx
12
45.05
0.063
8.83
All
Green
BB4Dx
12
54.17
0.075
8.72
All
Green
End Date of the Experiment in the Observation field 09 May, 2012
Plants
Type
No. of
Potted
Plants
Average
Stem length
(height) Of
plant (cm)
Average
Average
Stem (mm) No. Of
Thickness leaves
(Diameter)
Shades of Green
PP7Dx
13
50.03
0.166
2.54
5G, 1B,7D
BB7Dx
09
51.61
0.084
0.06
1G,8D
PP4Dx
12
45.91
0.080
1.08
3G,1Y, 8D
BB4Dx
11
56.54
0.090
0.27
1G,10D
End date of the experiment at the Open field 08 Oct. 2013
Plant Type
No of potted
plants
No of
Surviving
Plants
Average
heights of
Surviving
plants (ft)
Average
Stem
Thickness
(cm)
PP7Dx
13
6
15
2.61
BB7Dx
12
2
13
2.28
PP4Dx
11
0
0
0
BB4D
12
3
7.5
1.20
Plants
Type
First reading
Av Stm
ht in
(cm)
Av
thickness
(mm))
PP7Dx
45.35
0.084
BB7Dx
PP4Dx
BB4Dx
50.53
45.05
54.17
0.088
0.063
0.075
Second
Last
reading
reading
Stem
Thickn Ste Diam
ht (cm) ess
m .
(mm) ht (cm)
(Ft)
50.03 0.166 15 2.61
51.61
45.91
56.54
0.084
0.080
0.090
13
0
7.5
2.28
0
1.20
Benefit of the research.
Eliminates used diapers from the refuse bins
Provide source of livelihood to youth
Encourage the sorting of the wastes, which is a serious
problem,
Increase the survival rate of the trees planted there adding
more tree stock to the environment
Unexpected but relevant outcome.
It is important to mention that in the course of this
work we stumbled on the possibility of polio
spread through the improper disposal of used
diapers.