The Neem Properties

To protect themselves from the attacks of insects, a lot of plants produce some chemical substance with several properties: toxic, insects’ growth regulator or anti-nourishing. The Neem produces with its fruits, leaves, flowers and barks more than a hundred of chemical substances. One of them (Azadirachtin) is one of the most effective bio-insecticide.

 

For the plants

In emulsion with some water and by pulverization, the Neem oil is used as:

  • a fertilizer for the foliages
  • a stimulator of natural defences
  • a pesticide
  • an insecticide

Its ovicid and larvicid properties allow him to infect the laying of arthropod females as well as the moulting and the growth of the larva, thus weakening the resistance of these insects.
The Neem oil is not toxic for the warm-blooded animals and the human beings.
The Neem’s natural components allow some various applications:

  • In the farm and forest production, the Neem oil sets different effective processes which are respectful to the environment for the plants that need:
    • pesticides (parasites)
    • fungicides (mushrooms)
    • insecticides (insects)

The organic action of the Neem’s extracts is good to fight against more than 400 pests of which some are hardy to the chemical pesticides.
The efficiency of the Neem oil was experimented in laboratories, in greenhouses and in the fields on:

  • Tetranychidae: in laboratory.
  • The greenfly of the peach tree (Myzus Mercicae) and the Trialeurodes Vaporariorum (aleurodes des serres), often called the white fly: in laboratory.
  • The thrips (Thysanoptera) of the little fruits: in laboratory and greenhouse.
  • Potato leaf roll virus (PLRV) and potato virus Y: in greenhouse.
  • The mites, greenflies, Trialeurodes Vaporarium and the black flies: in greenhouse.
  • French beans against the bean flies and the locust: in the fields.
  • Watermelons against the fruit flies: in the fields.
  • Tomatoes against tomato fruit worms, whiteflies, thrips, cutworms (voracious leaf)…: in the fields.
  • Strawberries against the tarnished plant bug (la punaise terne): in the fields.
  • Broccolis, rutabagas (Swedes), radishes and cabbages against the cabbage flies (Delia Radicum): in the fields.
  • Onions against the onion flies (Delia Antiqua): in the fields.
  • The rosemary against the mites, white flies, thrips and the Eupterix Decemnota: in tunnel.
  • Strawberries against the strawberry tree’s powdery mildew: in laboratory.
  • The apple tree against the Disaphis Plantaginea and cutworms: in an orchard.

 

For humans

  • In the allopathic and homeopathic medicine as well as in the Hindu traditional medicine, the Neem extracts are used for several pathologies, dermatological, breathing, digestive…treatments. The Neem also has some antiseptic properties.
  • In the cosmetic industry, the Neem oil is mixed in creams, body oils, shampoos, repellents, sun creams and toothpastes.
  • For the housing: The Neem oil considerably allows reducing the presence of mosquitoes in the houses.

 

For the animals

For the hygiene and the veterinary treatments: the sprayed Neem oil allows disinfecting the stables and the cowsheds with its fumigating action. In a shampoo, it is used as a repulsive and as a care for the hairs.

More information:
The fertilization of the leaves consists in spraying the fertilizer straight away on the vegetables’ foliages. The effect of this type of fertilization is very fast because the nutriments are immediately assimilated and used by the plants. The fertilization of the leaves is especially useful after moments of stress (transplantation, the wind, the hail, the cold, the dryness and the heat) or in the case of serious nutritional deficiency. It is mostly used as an extra-fertilization and settles a problem of deficiency in a short-term period. For a solution in a longer-term period, it is important to fight the reason of the imbalance. For instance, if the mineral deficiency is a result of a too acid pH, we need to mix some enriching agents into the soil. The nutritious elements contained in the fertilizer get into the leaves through tiny openings called stoma. These ones are generally more numerous on the inferior side of the leaves. We have to take it into account during the application of the fertilizer and spray underneath the leaves. The fertilizer for the leaves is better swallowed if it is applied very early in the morning or in the evening because the air is fresher and the ambient humidity is higher what favour the opening of the stomata.

Arthropods (Greek: “arthron” means “joint” and “podos” means “foot”, also called “jointed”) form a phylum of invertebrate animals. Arthropods are characterised by the possession of a segmented body with appendages on each segment. All arthropods are covered by a hard exoskeleton made of chitin. Today the phylum of arthropods is the largest; it has over a million modern species of arthropods.

An ovicid phytosanitary product is an active substance or a preparation capable of preventing the evolution of the eggs by killing the embryo. To protect the cultivations against the parasites, the knowledge of the ovicid characteristics of the phytopharmaceutic products applied and the knowledge of the date of the beginning of laying allow reasoning with the use of insecticides and mite-killers.

A larvicid phytosanitary product is an active substance or a preparation that is specifically targeted against the larval life stage of an insect. To protect the cultivations against the parasites, the knowledge of the larvicid characteristics of the phytopharmaceutic products applied and the knowledge of the date of the beginning of laying allow reasoning with the use of insecticides and mite-killers.

Allopathy: usual mode of medical treatment that fight the disease by using medicines which have an effect opposite to the pathological phenomena.

About the Neem

In Brazil, all the fruit and vegetable producers but also all the distributors of farm products know the neem. Since 2001, we use it frequently to cure the animals and for the agriculture.
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The biologic alternative

The azadirachtin extract contained in the neem’seeds was very efficient against the larva that were destroying the foliages, against 13 species of lepidopterous insects and against sawflies.
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Did you know?

When the tree reaches maturity, it can produce until 50Kg of fruits what is equivalent to 30Kg of seeds. These ones constitute the main source of components with some insecticidal properties as the azadirachtin. However, the quantity of azadirachtin contained in the seeds considerably changes according to the climatic conditions, the soil conditions and the genotype of the tree (Ermel 1986 ; Singh 1986).