Dr Ramesh C. Saxena
Chairman, Neem Foundation

The population in India has already crossed the one billion marks. Providing adequate food entitlements, safeguarding public health, meeting fuel and firewood needs, and at the same time preventing deforestation and conserving the environment, and slowing down the population growth will be daunting challenges in the coming decades. Although “green revolution technologies” have more than doubled the yield potential of cereals, especially rice and wheat in India, these high-input production systems requiring large quantities of fertilisers, pesticides, irrigation, and machines disregard the ecological integrity of land, forests, and water resources, endanger the flora and fauna, and cannot be sustained over generations. Future food security and economic development would depend on improving the productivity of biophysical resources through the application of sustainable production methods, by improving tolerance of crops to adverse environmental conditions, and by reducing crop and post-harvest losses caused by pests and diseases. Appropriate technologies, which do not assault the nature, would have key roles to play in ensuring food security, in improving public and animal health, and in rehabilitating the environment to safeguard the wellbeing of the posterity. Instead of striving for more “green revolutions” with emphasis on miracle seeds, hard-hitting synthetic and engineered pesticides, and increased use of fertilisers, the future must look to natural ways and processes for augmenting agricultural productivity. In fact, all development efforts and activities, including pest management, should be within well-defined ecological rules rather than within narrow economic gains. Sustainable agricultural systems must be efficient (i.e. effective and economically rewarding) and ecologically sound for long-term food sufficiency, equitable in providing social justice, ethical in respecting both future generations and other species, and lead to employment- and income-generating opportunities. For India, the use of neem may provide a key component in more sustainable agricultural systems, including pest and nutrient management, animal health, human health, and environmental conservation.

Neem, a member of the Meliaceae family, is a botanical cousin of mahogany. According to a report of an ad hoc panel of the Board on Science and Technology for International Development, “this plant may usher in a new era in pest control, provide millions with inexpensive medicines, cut down the rate of human population growth and even reduce erosion, deforestation, and the excessive temperature of an overheated globe.” Neem’s other descriptions, such as “nature’s bitter boon,” “nature’s gift to mankind,” “the tree for many an occasion,” “the tree that purifies,” “the wonder tree,” “the tree of the 21st century,” and “a tree for solving global problems,” are a recognition of its versatility. Its botanic name, Azadirachta indica, derived from Farsi, “azad darakht-i-hindi” literally means the “free or noble tree of India,” suggesting that it is intrinsically free from pest and disease problems and is benign to the environment. Neem’s Sanskrritized name “Arishtha” means the reliever of sickness. In East African Kiswahili language, neem is known as “Mwarubaini,” meaning the reliever of 40 disorders.

Neem is an evergreen, tall, fast-growing tree, which can reach a height of 25m and 2.5m in girth. It has an attractive crown of deep-green foliage and masses of honey scented flowers. A full-grown tree can produce 30- to 100kg of fruits, depending on rainfall, insolation, soil type, and ecotype or genotype. Fifty kg of fruit yields 30kg of seed, which gives 6kg of oil and 24kg of seed cake. Neem has more than 100 unique bioactive compounds, which have potential applications in agriculture, animal care, public health, and for even regulating human fertility.

Neem has had a long history of use primarily against household and storage pests and to some extent against crop pests in India. With the advent of broad-spectrum, toxic insecticides, such as DDT, the use of neem in crop protection declined. However, over the past three decades, neem has come under close scientific scrutiny as a source of unique natural products for integrated pest management, medicine, industry, and other purposes. In spite of high selectivity, neem derivatives affect ~500 species of insect pests belonging to different insect orders, one species of ostracods, several species of mites and ticks, nematodes, and even noxious snails and fungi, and aflatoxin-producing Asergillus spp.

Results of large-scale field trials conducted by me and others in major food crops, such as rice, maize, sorghum, banana, and vegetables, such as kale, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, okra, tomato, potato, etc., have illustrated the value of neem-based pest management for enhancing crop productivity. The use of neem and fertiliser mixtures can reduce ammonia volatilisation loss caused by nitrifying bacteria in soil, thus effecting saving on fertilisers. A large number of neem-based medicines, pharmaceuticals, and toiletries are being produced today and are in great demand overseas. Neem oil is in great demand for treating skin infections, foot rot, ringworm, scabies, lice, burn wounds, bruises, etc. in humans and against ticks, mites, and blood-sucking flies in livestock. Neem has scope in reforestation and agro-forestry ad rehabilitating waste- and degraded lands. It is useful as windbreaks and in areas of low rainfall and high wind speed, it can protect crops from desiccation. In some countries in Africa, neem is being used for halting the spread of the Sahara desert. A full-grown neem tree does the job of 10 air conditioners; the temperature under the neem tree is ~10 oC less than the outside ambient temperature. The ecological and economic service rendered by a neem tree in its lifetime of ~250 years approximates US$24,000. In India, ~6 million neem trees can easily be planted along the east-west and north-south corridors. Rural population along those corridors can be trained and employed to do the job scientifically. Once full grown, these trees will help in sequestering carbon emission and also reduce the load of greenhouse gases. The economic and ecological returns from such a programme will be phenomenal and India would become a role model for other tropical countries.

The neem industry has been growing steadily. Although presently India has ~22 million neem trees (the largest concentration of neem in the world), the situation may change drastically. Neem trees of superior ecotypes and genotypes are being planted on a large scale in China and Brazil, countries much bigger than India in land area. Over the past 5 years, 20 million neem trees have been grown in Yunnan and other southern provinces of China. Neem also is being grown in some regions in Australia, in many countries in Africa, Latin America, Caribbean Islands, etc. For instance, ~600,000 neem trees have been planted on homesteads and in plantations in Kwimba Reforestation Project in Mwanza, Tanzania. Likewise, in refugee rehabilitation centres near the river Nile at Adjumani, northern Uganda, about 200,000 neem trees were grown in pure stands and mixed plantations. Under this scenario, if no action is taken to promote neem in India, then we will be left far behind in the production of raw neem material and value-added neem products.

Neem has much to offer in solving agricultural and public health problems in the country, especially in rural areas. However, more neem trees will have to be grown to meet the increasing demand for insect pest control and industrial uses. The local peasant community will have to be brought within the fold of increased awareness by outreaching and through interpersonal interaction, by involving ‘sarpanch’ or village chiefs, schools, women groups, and government and non-government organisations. Field demonstrations and neem fairs at strategic locations will have to be organised periodically in collaboration with local bodies or institutions to evoke the interest and participation of target communities. Also, existing local initiatives, if any, will have to be strengthened.

Strategies for creating awareness will involve hands-on training through lectures and demonstrations to trainers, comprising agricultural trainers, foresters, extension personnel, health workers, teachers, journalists, and representatives of NGOs, youth and women groups, who would then have a multiplier effect in target areas. They will have to be taught how to harvest, collect and process neem seed, grow and plant seedlings, and use various neem materials for pest management. The distribution of raw materials will have to be guaranteed by establishing nodal agencies in target areas. These activities will create employment opportunities and also generate income.

The complex molecular structure of bio-active neem compounds precludes their chemical synthesis economically. Therefore, even the chemical industry will have to rely on the use of raw material. With growing demand for natural pest control materials, the use of neem products is becoming popular world- wide. In the next 5 years, I expect that global neem trade, comprising neem-based pest control materials, medicines, pharmaceuticals, and toiletries will grow to more than $500m. Herein lies a huge window of opportunity to benefit by growing and harnessing neem not only for local use but also for export to regions and countries where neem does not thrive.


Neem for development & conservation.18July2007