On-farm practices for the safe use of wastewater in urban and peri-urban horticulture
Abstract
Many farmers in developing countries grow crops, especially vegetables, in urban and peri-urban environments using wastewater, raw or diluted, to irrigate their crops. Such wastewater is often heavily contaminated with disease-causing organisms and chemical agents that can seriously harm the health of the farmers, the traders who handle crops and the people who consume them. It is therefore very important for urban and peri-urban vegetable farmers to be aware of the health-risks associated with using wastewater for their irrigating crops and to know how to use wastewater safely at farm level to reduce those health risks.
This handbook focuses on low-cost and low-tech on-farm wastewater treatment and safe irrigation practices that farmers can adopt to grow safer products. The best practices described were designed and field-tested as part of a CPWF Phase 1 project under the coordination of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the International Water Management Institute.
Citation
FAO. On-farm practices for the safe use of wastewater in urban and peri-urban horticulture. FAO, Rome, Italy (2012) 55 pp. ISBN 978-92-5-107330-8
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