A Regional Supplement to Asia Notes ECHO Development Notes Edited by Abram Bicksler and Rebecca Garofano June 2015 | Issue 24 Neem for Sustainable Pest Management and Environemntal Conservation Featured in this AN by Ramesh C. Saxena, Ph.D.,Chairman, Neem Foundation 1 Neem for Sustainable Pest [Editor’s Note: Dr. Ramesh C. Saxena is a world-renowned scientist and Neem expert and Management and Environ- Chairman of the Neem Foundation in Bombay, India. This article is gratefully reprinted mental Conservation from a forthcoming book about the usefulness of the Neem tree entitled “Neem: Nature’s Healing Gift to Humanity,” compiled and edited by Klaus Ferlow of the Neem Research 12 Tricho-Composting in organization of Canada.] Bangladesh Abstract 16 ECHO Asia Agriculture & To be sustainable, agricultural processes, including pest and vector management must be Community Development efficient (effective and economically rewarding), ecologically sound (for long term stability), Conference: equitable (in providing social justice), and ethical (in respecting both future generations and other species). Basic and applied research conducted over the past three decades have shown that the use of natural and enriched neem (Azadirachta indica) products can provide a key component in ensuring sustainable integrated pest and vector management. The formi- dable array of more than 100 bioactive compounds in the neem tree makes it a unique plant with potential applications in pest and vector management. Unlike toxic synthetic insecti- cides, neem materials do not kill the pest, but incapacitate or neutralize it via cumulative behavioral, physiological, and cytological effects. In spite of high selectivity, neem materials affect more than 500 species of insect pests, phytophagous mites, mites, and ticks affecting man and animals, parasitic protozoans, noxious mollusks, plant parasitic nematodes, patho- genic fungi, and harmful bacteria and fungi. Results of large-scale field trials have illustrated the value of neem-based pest management for enhancing crop productivity. Neem is useful as windbreaks and in areas of low rainfall and high wind speed, it can protect crops from desiccation. Neem trees are being planted on a large scale in southern China and Brazil. Neem has also been grown in Australia, in many countries in Africa, Latin America, Caribbean islands, etc. Neem has much to offer in solving agricultural and public health problems, espe- cially in rural areas. Increased awareness of the potential of neem tree by creating awareness of its potential would go a long way in promoting its acceptance for pest management and improvement of plant health, animal health, human health, and environmental health. Introduction the application of sustainable production methods, by improving tolerance of crops The global population is now 7.3 billion. to adverse environmental conditions, and Providing adequate food entitlements, by reducing crop and post-harvest losses safeguarding public health, meeting fuel caused by pests and diseases. Appropriate and firewood needs, and at the same time technologies, which do not assault nature, preventing deforestation, conserving the will have key roles to play in ensuring food environment, and slowing down the popu- security, in improving public and animal lation growth will be daunting challenges health, and in rehabilitating the environ- The ECHO Asia Impact Center in the coming decades. Although “green ment to safeguard the wellbeing of future revolution technologies” have more than generations. Instead of striving for more operates under ECHO, a non-profit doubled the yield potential of cereals, espe- “green revolutions” with emphasis on Christian organization that helps cially rice and wheat in India, these high miracle seeds, hard-hitting synthetic and you help the poor to produce food -input production systems requiring large engineered pesticides, and increased use in the developing world. quantities of fertilizers, pesticides, irriga- of fertilizers, the future must look to natural tion, and machines disregard the ecolog- ways and processes for augmenting agri- ECHO Asia Impact Center ical integrity of land, forests, and water cultural productivity. In fact, all develop- resources, endanger the flora and fauna, ment efforts and activities, including pest PO Box 64 and cannot be sustained over generations. management, should be within well-defined Chiang Mai 50000 Thailand Future food security and economic develop- ecological rules rather than within narrow [email protected] ment will depend on improving the produc- economic gains. Sustainable agricultural www.ECHOcommunity.org tivity of biophysical resources through systems must be efficient (i.e. effective and economically rewarding) and ecologi- Neem, however, is unsuited to growing in cally sound for long-term food sufficiency, cooler and mountainous areas (>1000 m). equitable in providing social justice, ethical in respecting both future generations and Neem is an evergreen, tall, fast-growing other species, and lead to employment and tree, which can reach a height of 25m and income-generating opportunities. For India 2.5m in girth. It has an attractive crown of and other countries, the use of neem may deep-green foliage (which can spread 10 provide a key component in more sustain- m across) and masses of honey-scented able agricultural systems, including pest flowers. The tree thrives even on nutri- and nutrient management, animal health, ent-poor dry soil. It tolerates high to very human health, and environmental conser- high temperatures, low rainfall, long spells vation. of drought, and salinity. It is propagated by seed; 9 to 12 month-old seedlings trans- plant well. Birds and bats also disperse Why Neem? the seed. Fruiting begins in 3 to 5 years. Neem, a member of the Meliaceae In the Indian sub-continent, neem flowers family, is a botanical cousin of mahogany. from Jan through Apr and fruits mature According to a report of an ad hoc panel of from May to Aug. In coastal Kenya, fruiting the Board on Science and Technology for occurs in March and April; some off types International Development, “this plant may also fruit in Nov or Dec. The fruit is about 2 usher in a new era in pest control, provide cm long, and when ripe, has a yellow fleshy millions with inexpensive medicines, cut pericarp, a white hard shell, and a brown, down the rate of human population growth oil-rich seed kernel. Fruit yields range from and even reduce erosion, deforestation, 30 to 100 kg per tree, depending on rainfall, and the excessive temperature of an over- insolation, soil type, and neem ecotype or heated globe” (National Research Council genotype. Fifty kg of fresh fruit yields 30 kg 1992). Neem’s other descriptions, such of seed, which gives 6 kg of oil and 24 kg of as “nature’s bitter boon,” “nature’s gift to seed cake. Seed viability ranges from 6 to mankind,” “the tree for many an occa- 8 weeks, but thoroughly cleaned and prop- sion,” “the tree that purifies,” “the wonder erly dried and cooled seeds remain viable tree,” “the tree of the 21st century,” and up to 6 months. Propagation by stumps “a tree for solving global problems,” are and stem cuttings also is practiced. Plant- recognition of its versatility. Its botanic lets, produced by tissue culturing, have name, Azadirachta indica, derived from also been used for propagation with partial Farsi,”azad darakht-i-hindi” literally means success. the “free or noble tree of India,” suggesting Neem is bitter in taste. The bitterness is that it is literally free from pest and disease due to the presence of an array of complex problems and is benign to the environment. compounds called “triterpenes” or more Neem’s Sanskritized name “Arishtha” specifically, “limonoids.” More than 100 means the reliever of sickness. In East unique bioactive compounds have been African Kiswahili language, neem is known isolated from various parts of the neem tree; as “Mwarubaini,” meaning the reliever of 40 still more are being isolated. This formi- disorders. dable array of highly bio-active compounds Neem is native to Myanmar and the arid makes neem a unique plant with potential regions of the Indian sub-continent, where applications in agriculture, animal care, it has almost been semi-domesticated. public health, and for even regulating even During the last century, neem was intro- human fertility. The limonoids in neem duced in arid zones of Africa. Today, it is belong to nine basic structure groups: azad- grown in many Asian countries, in tropical irone (from oil), amoorastatin (from fresh regions of the New World, in several Carib- leaves), vepinin (from seed oil), vilasinin bean and in some Mediterranean countries. (from green leaves), gedunin (from seed oil During the past three decades, neem was and bark), nimbin (from leaves and seed), introduced and planted on a large scale in nimbolin (from kernel), and salannin (from Australia, in the Philippines, and also in leaves and seed), and the aza group (from the Plains of Arafat near Meccah in Saudi neem seed). Azadirachtin and its analogs Arabia, regions ecologically highly diverse. have fascinated researchers for the past 40 Over the past decade, more than 25 million years because of phagorepellency, growth neem trees have been grown in southern inhibition, and chemosterilizing effects on China, particularly in Yunnan province. In insect pests (Saxena 1989, Schmutterer all these regions, the tree is thriving - a 1990, 2002). The azadirachtin content testimony to its hardiness and adaptability. in neem could vary considerably due to edaphic, climatic, or genotypic differences. From top to bottom: Leaves, seeds, flowers, and trunk of the neem tree. 2 . Neem for Eco-friendly Table 1. Comparative rice tungro virus (RTV) control, grain yield, and net gain in ricefields sprayed Sustainable Pest Management with neem oil-custard apple oil (NO-CAO) mixture or an insecticide (BPMC) (Abdul Kareem et al. 1987)1 Crop Pests Net gain Value of yield Cost of trea- (value of yield Treatment RTV (%) Yield (t/ha) Pest control as practiced today in most (US$) ment (US$) less cost of developing countries relies mainly on the treatment) use of imported pesticides.