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Uses of Neem

Pest and Plant Disease control

Neem is a key ingredient in non-pesticidal management (NPM), providing a natural alternative to synthetic pesticides. Neem seeds are ground into a powder that is soaked overnight in water and sprayed onto the crop. To be effective, it is necessary to apply repeatedly, at least every ten days. 

Neem Based Pesticides containing the active ingredient - AZADIRACHTIN derived from neem seed kernel, are very useful for Organic Farming and can be used effectively for spraying on all types of plants whether fruits, vegetables, flowers, or other crops such as soyabean, garlic, paddy, wheat, maize, etc. 

Neem does not directly kill insects on the crop. It acts as an anti-feedant, repellent, and egg-laying deterrent, protecting the crop from damage. The insects starve and die within a few days. Neem also suppresses the hatching of pest insects from their eggs. Neem cake is often sold as a fertilizer.

[edit]Other uses

• Neem oil is used for preparing cosmetics such as soap, neem shampoo, balms and creams as well as toothpaste.
• Besides its use in traditional Indian medicine, the neem tree is of great importance for its anti-desertification properties and possibly as a good carbon dioxide sink.
• Practitioners of traditional Indian medicine recommend that patients with chicken pox sleep on neem leaves.
• Neem gum is used as a bulking agent and for the preparation of special purpose food.
• Traditionally, slender neem branches have been chewed to clean one's teeth. Neem twigs are still collected and sold in markets for this use, and in rural India one often sees youngsters in the streets chewing on neem twigs.
• Neem blossoms are used in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to prepare Ugadi pachhadi. "Bevina hoovina gojju" (a type of curry prepared with neem blossoms) is common in Karnataka throughout the year. Dried blossoms are used when fresh blossoms are not available. In Tamil Nadu, a rasam (veppam poo rasam) made with neem blossoms is a culinary specialty.
• A mixture of neem flowers and bella (jaggery or unrefined brown sugar) is prepared and offered to friends and relatives, symbolic of sweet and bitter events in the upcoming new year.
• Cosmetics : Neem is perceived in India as a beauty aid. Powdered leaves are a major component of at least one widely used facial cream. Purified neem oil is also used in nail polish & other cosmetics.
• Bird repellent:Neem leaf boiled water can be used as a very cost effective bird repellent measure,especially for sparrow.
• Lubricants : Neem oil is non drying and it resists degradation better than most vegetable oils. In rural India, it is commonly used to grease cart wheels.
• Fertilizers : Neem has demonstrated considerable potential as a fertilizer. Neem cake is widely used to fertilize cash crops particularly sugarcane & vegetables. Ploughed into the soil, it protects plant roots from nematodes & white ants, probably due to its contents of the residual limonoids. In Karnataka, people grow the tree mainly for its green leaves & twigs, which they puddle into flooded rice fields before the rice seedlings are transplanted.
• Resin : An exudate can be tapped from the trunk by wounding the bark. This high protein material is not a substitute for polysaccharide gum, such as gum arabic. It may however, have a potential as a food additive, and it is widely used in South Asia as "Neem glue".
• Bark : Neem bark contains 14% tannin, an amount similar to that in conventional tannin yielding trees (such as Acacia decurrens). Moreover, it yields a strong, coarse fibre commonly woven into ropes in the villages of India.
• Honey : In parts of Asia neem honey commands premium prices & people promote apiculture / apiary by planting neem trees.
• Soap : India's supply of neem oil is now used mostly by soap manufacturers. Although much of it goes to small scale speciality soaps, large scale producers also use it, mainly because it is cheap. Generally, the crude oil is used to produce coarse laundry soaps.

Why Eat Organic?

As a father of two kids, I am concerned about the health of my family. I grow 70% of my food myself organically. Here is why you should grow / eat organic food:

 

It’s good for you

• There’s evidence that many organic fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than their non-organic counterparts. Research has shown that an organic diet can dramatically reduce pesticide levels in kids’ bodies.
• On average, organic samples contained higher total antioxidants and beneficial phytonutrients like polyphenols and flavonoids than conventionally raised foods.
• Organic milk and meat are higher in omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) — heart-healthy fats that can help lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. Increased grazing is suspected to increase CLA content of organically raised milk and meat; CLA levels have been shown to be higher in the breastmilk of women who consumed such foods.

It’s good for farmers

• Organic farmers and growers don’t handle toxic, persistent pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers that can pose a health hazard.
• Organic agriculture can be good for a farmer’s economic health. Many small family farmers do well in an agricultural economy otherwise dominated by giant factory farms.

It’s good for the animals and the environment

• Organic practices means livestock are kept strong, healthy and productive through good nutrition, less stress and humane living conditions, rather than through antibiotics or injections of artificial growth hormones.
• Our soil, rivers, drinking water and air also benefit from organic agriculture, because organic practices don’t contaminate them with toxic persistent chemicals.
• Organic means less dependence on fossil fuels. Organic farming practices can help reduce climate change. Converting all of America’s cropland to organic is estimated to have the same carbon-reducing effect as taking 217 million cars off the road!

The next time you buy organic, remember that you’re not just doing yourself and your family some good. You’re doing a whole world of good!

For more information:

• Arkury TA et al. “Pesticide Urinary Metabolite Levels of Children in Eastern North Carolina Farmworker Households.” Environ Health PerspectAug 2007;115(8).
• Benbrook C et al. “New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Foods.” The Organic Center: State of ScienceReview, Mar 2008.
• LaSalle TJ and Hepperly P. “Regenerative Organic Farming: A Solution to Global Warming.” Rodale Institute, 2008.
• McCullum-Gomez C et al. “That First Step — Organic Food and a Healthier Future." The Organic Center: State of Science Review, Mar 2009. This “Critical Issue Report” describes six ways that organic food and farming can contribute to reversing current trends in overweight, obesity, and diabetes.