A green India with Neem trees

Take your the bitter native Neem tree seriously. If you cannot, attend the World Neem Conference that will teach you the fine art of caring for Neem trees.

The global conference, to be held in the southern Indian city of Coimbatore later this year, is organized by the Bangalore-based Neem Foundation.

Organizers of the event say the Indian government, public and industry should take the humble, free-growing medicinal tree seriously as the country has lots to gain from it

According to Neem Foundation Chairman Dr R C Saxena, though India has the largest number of neem trees and the Latin name azadirachta indica also recognises the neem's true home, the country should urgently take action to support and retain its traditional wealth.

The main threat for the Neem tree is China, these days. It is reported that China's Yunnan province has had 20 million trees planted in just five years.

The Foundation, that started its "Greening India with Neem" campaign in 2005, says it will plant 10 crore trees by 2015. The Foundation estimates that the each tree can yield 50 kg of fruit or 6 kg of oil a year. While an ounce of the oil costs $10 in the US, India and neem-growing north Africa have sold it at $13-50 a litre.

Neem, called the village pharmacy for its therapeutic properties, is commercially used as a natural "non-violent" pest control agent, in vet care, fertilisers,

soaps and toothpaste. Once considered a low-end third-world product, it is seeing a slow change in perception.

Dr Saxena says the Indian neem industry is still a Rs 100-crore (Rs 1-billion) scene, or ten per cent of its potential. "But the global neem trade could touch $500 million (Rs 2,000 crore) in 10 years," he pointed out.

Already, the Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers, has shown suicide-prone farmers in Vidharba how to make their own bio pesticides and fertilisers.

Dr Saxena says one neem dream was to plant these trees all along the 16,000 km of the Golden Quadrilateral.

At returns of $100 a year as oil and cake, each tree will be worth $25,000 through its 250-year lifespan; that would be a value of $128 billion. It should also be researched for anti-HIV properties, he added.

Neem is commercially used as a natural `non-violent' pest control agent, in vet care, fertilisers, soaps & toothpaste.

Neem has adapted to a wide range of climates. It thrives well in hot weather, where the maximum shade temperature is as high as 49 degree C and tolerates cold upto 0 degree C on altitudes upto 1500 m.

Today, Neem is well established in at least 30 countries world-wide, in Asia, Africa and Central and South America. Some small scale plantations are also reportedly successful in the United States of America.