| Keeping Up with Neem |
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KEEPING UP WITH NEEM Bio-Pesticides - An Indian Scenario Bio-pesticides are living organisms and / or their products, which can control pests of agriculture, forest and floriculture. Some of the important living bio-pesticides, which have been practised in India are Neem based insecticides and hormone analogues. The current thrust in plant protection is one promoting integrated pest management (IPM), which is ecologically sound, economically viable and socially acceptable. IPM was accepted and implemented in India during the eighth plan. Plant Bio-Pesticides About 11 species of the family Meliaceae are referred to as possessing terpenoids with insect antifeedant property. The neem tree, Azadiracta indica produces a variety of phyto-chemicals. The liminoid, azadiractin, first isolated in 1968, is considered the most potent compound. It is the commercially available in India. Currently it is estimated that India utilises only 25% of the available neem seed. Hence, there is a vast scope to enhance the utilization of neem in IPM. When compared with chemical pesticides, bio-pesticides have two most important advantages. a) They are target specific and b) They do not destroy beneficial organisms c) They are bio-degradable in nature. Most of the synthetic insecticides are poisons and affect all stages of insects. However, microbial insecticides primarily get into the organism by ingestion. Bio-pesticides usually affect only the particular stage of the specific pest. Therefore, in order to be effective, bio-pesticides must be placed exactly where the susceptible target stage of the pest will consume it. Even though, bio-pesticides have the above mention aid advantages, farmers are interested in using bio-pesticides only when the use of chemical pesticides is not feasible. This is because chemical insecticides are effective even when the spray coverage is not thorough. Dr. K. Sahayaraj - Diretor, Crop Protection Research Centre, St. Xavier's College (Autonomous) Palayamkottai - 627 002 (TN) Source: Agrobios, Jodhpur Sands turn Green in UAE Imagine a million trees in a desert roughly the size of Punjab. Or just make a wild guess as to how many trees could have been planted in 30 years in an area this size. Well, 250 million or 25 crores. This is just another indicator of the development in the United Arab Emirates, where beautiful flowers adorn manicured parks and roadsides. Initiatives of the UAE President, HH Shaikh Zayed, has replaced sandstroms with pleasant weather, at least from September to April. I first went to Abu Dhabi in January, 1981. I was wearing a blue safari suit. But today, thanks to this green revolution, one has to wear a light woolen jacket in the evenings, even in late February. Besides Date Palms, Neem and Kikar, the country has artificially cultivated several varieties of beautiful leafy trees, including fruit trees. Many fruits, like mango, guava and papaya are grown in the island wildlife sanctuary of Sri Bani. The Abu Dhabi municipality produces 1.5 million tree saplings, 20 million flowers and 30,000 plants each year. The country produces 11 million tons of vegetables each year. Environment obviously is a key concern, and in this perspective, HH Shaikh Zayed has also given due emphasis on the protection of wildlife as well as marine life. Environment, according to him, is "a dear part of our heritage, civilization and future". There is concern about global warming and the destruction of ozone layer. Accordingly, there is a strict control on ozone-depleting chemicals. By 2005, it would be illegal to deal in them. Environment care also means reduction in air pollution. A law was passed in this regard in March 1999. There is a check on leaded fuel, 57 insecticides are banned, and manufacture of chemical insecticides is not allowed in the country. In fact, pesticides made from the neem tree are now gradually replacing chemicals. - Gulshan R Luthra Source: A News Ray Feature Neem is the unlikely theme of this paperback The azadirachta indica may hardly seem a promising protagonist of a novel. But the commonplace evergreen made a splashy debut in the world of fiction earlier this week. The neem tree is at the heart of 'Neem Dreams', a quick-read paperback by Australian author Inez Baranay. The book tells the tale of four characters who land up in a village near Madurai - seeking grails as varied as herbal beauty products and miracle cures for HIV. Predictably enough the tree, long known as 'the village dispensary', holds tentative answers. "I have an abiding fascination for India and have always wanted to explore it through a novel," says Ms Baranay, who is on her eighth trip to this land of "cloves and Quinine". "The neem emerged as the perfect symbol". The fact that the neem has graduated from ayurvedic tomes to popular fiction reflects a wider phenomenon. "The debate on patents and intellectual property rights in the mid - '90s, reinvigorated interest in the neem," says Ms Baranay, who believes that this versatile bio-resource is gradually gaining the recognition it deserves. "Earlier, whenever I mentioned the Neem and its properties, people in the West would say What 's that? But now a fair number say It's an Indian tree or something. - Shabnam Minwalla Source: The Times of India, Mumbai The Andhra Pradesh - Netherlands Biotechnology Programme APNL-BP has recognised the potential for sustainable agricultural development in a wide array of different biotechnologies, with the aim of aiding small-scale farmers. By ensuring that farmers continuosly influence the technology development process. One of the projects of APNL-BP focuses on the propagation of Neem. Clonal neem material was selected on the basis of total number of fruits per tree, azadirachtin (the active ingredient from the seeds) content of the seeds, pest resistance and speed of growth. Tissue culture of neem has been optimised and carried out by scientists in the research institute CRIDA, Hyderabad, India and has been passed on to a local farm scientists in center (KVK) where farmers have learnt skills to perform tissue culture. It is in this local farm science center that the farmers have learned highly useful innovation of propagation process. They use vermiculite-based medium with added growth hormones in working environment, high-energy light is being avoided. However, clonal mother material is maintained at CRIDA to keep the mother stock. This is an excellent example of an interactive technology design where modern science-based tissue culture technology is hybridized with traditional vegetative propagation techniques. Because of the advantages of this innovation, a start was made on the provision of several localities with a shade house. All these localities are now able to perform the same techniques and grow and sell their own neem plants without any further outside funding. This is a clear example of the revalidation of local knowledge and craftsmanship on one hand and new social organization formed on the other, which is attuned to the local situation. This meets local demands like low cost bio-pesticides and better suited marketing strategy like standarized azadirachtin in mind. This has economic implications as well - as local women farmers do the most of work in shade houses, thereby adding to their income. Local youth also get trained to acquire skills needed for tissue culture and vegetative propagation. This is an appreciative tailor made biotechnology programme that should be replicated. Source: Society of Biopesticide Sciences, India
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