| Keeping Up With Neem |
 |
 |
 |
|
Saviour in Neem Seeds Women from many drought stricken villages have joined hands to market neem, generating much-needed income. The women formed self-help groups for this. About 15,500 enterprising women of 421 self-help groups earned about Rs. 30 lakh by procuring 9,100 quintals of neem seeds in just two months. There is growing demand for neem seeds in the market, particularly because of its medicinal properties and its use in pest management. After realising that seeds available aplenty in the villages and nearby forests, the poor women in drought-hit villages embarked on the project. They are also able to set up purchase centres with financial assistance under the Indira Kranthi Patham programme. Using this facility, the self-help groups sold 8,560 quintals of neem worth about Rs. 25.50 lakhs in the last few months. Groups in the Lllanthakunta Mandal alone earned Rs. 1.27 lakh through the sale of the neem seeds in just 25 days. "This has saved us from the financial effects of drought," said Ms. Padma, a member of Rahemkhanpet village organization. "We have realized the strength of collective marketing". Ms. Padma's group stood first in the mandal by registering a profit of Rs. 27, 937. "We consider the neem tree a mainifestation of mother nature's kindness " said Ms. Uppula Lylavva of Adarsha Swashakti Sangham of Samudrala village. "We use neem leaves to worship the village deity Mysamma." The women believe that Mysamma, saddened by the plight of her children, offered them a new livelihood through neem. They are now dreaming big. " The groups propose to sell about 20,000 quintals of neem seeds throught self-help groups in next summer season," said the IKP distric project manager (Livelihood) Mr. M. Rammurthy. There is huge potential in the market considering the increasing demand for neem-based products such as oil, detergent cakes and bio-pesticides. Source: Pestology Vol. XXIX No. 10, October 2005 Neeming India What can one person do to save the environment? Well, you can start by planting a neem tree. Indians have known it all along, but the neem has now been globally acknowledged as the most valuable tree in the world - and some of its uses are being patented in other countries. To counter this trend, the Neem Foundation, based in Mumbai, has been spearheading 'Greening India with Neem', a movement that wants to increase the country's population of Azadirachta indica to at least ten crores. After some initial success, they hit a few snags in popularizing the movement but they've now enlisted Jaya Bachchan to act as an ambassador and carry their message through the media. And why the figure of ten crores? Given the tree's myriad health uses and the problems many Indians have in paying for synthetic medication, the Foundation decided our country required one neem tree for every ten Indians. It might be hard to find the place to plant a tree yourself, so they're encouraging everyone to donate what they can or to volunteer some time towards a noble cause. Go to www.neemfoundation.org and start 'Neeming' India. Source: Outlook 23rd January 2006 Jaya: Kabhie Neem Neem .... Amitabh may have sold Colas, suits and washing powders. Bachchan bachchua Abhishek has peddled cars and watches but nothing touched like us his mommy's series of short public service Star Care films for Neem trees. We especially like the one where she is surrounded by little kids. In the clip, Jaya urges people to grow Neem trees. Target? Dus karod. So while the two Bachchan men concentrate on making that amount, we want to go out and spread JB's messge. And hey... plant a few plants ourselves. Source: Mid-Day 7th January , 2006 The Tree of Life With the Americans fighting to patent its properties, and Jaya Bachchan strongly advocating planting Neem trees, Your Life considers the benefits of this miraculous gift of nature. Medicinal properties of the Neem tree, botanically known as Azadiracta indica A. Juss, were first recognized in India thousands of years ago, when founders of Ayurveda attributed healing properties to every part of the tree. Sanskrit scholars dubbed it, 'Sarva Roga Nivarini' which translates as, the curer of all ailments. Recent research has only confirmed this information. The Neem leaf, bark and roots are seen to contain alkaloids and liminoids, of great medicinal value. Skin Care: Neem's antibacterial and antiallergic properties make it effective in tackling skin problems such as acne, psoriasis and eczema. In Ayurveda, epidermal problems were believed to be caused by raised sugar levels in the body and Neem's bitter taste was said to balance out excess sugar. Scientists have recently discovered that alkaloids, nimbin and nimbidin found in Neem leaves, have properties, which is why they have been effective in treating athelete's foot, ringworm and yeast - like fungus infections. Traditional use involves crushing the leaves into a paste and applying directly to wounds or affected skin area. As it has been seen to inhibit virus multiplication, Neem leaf concoctions are commonly used to treat chicken pox and measles. Neem leaves are boiled in hot water and used in bathing to soothe sores. Neem oil can also be used to soothe mosquito bites and mild burns. However, this oil is potent and must not be left within children's reach. Mosquito Repellent: Neem seed extracts are biodegradable and non-toxic for humans but have been proven to be an effective form of pest control. Pets tend to build up immunity against modern pesticides, which therefore fail to be effective, after a while. Neem however, has been proven to be effective after thousands of years of use. A decade of research has revealed that neem affects more than 200 species of insects including mites, fungi and bacteria. Terpenoid, an active constituent of Neem has antimicrobial and insect repellant properties, thus lending the herb to this use. One part of neem oil mixed with four parts of coconut oil, makes a powerful insect repelling application. Stomach Ailments: Neem leaf and bark extracts have been used in herbal remedies for the treatment of gastrointestinal upsets, diarrhoea, intestinal infections and stomach ulcers. Neem leaf juice is administered in 2 to 4 tsp doses for this purpose. Dental Care: Leaf extract gel or neem toothpaste, forms a treatment for dental plaque. The astringent qualities of the bark prevents bleeding gums, tooth decay and bad breath. Overall Health: The cooling property of the neem bark is used to soothe exhaustion. Its antiseptic and astringent properties, render it useful for healing wounds. Fresh neem leaf may be sprinkled by the bed side of individuals suffering from flu or fever, to clear the air of viruses and prevent contagion. Head Lice: Neem seeds produce a pungent oil which can be used to treat head lice and dandruff. Massage a combination of Neem and coconut oil into the scalp. Leave it to overnight. Repeat a couple of times for relief from scaly scalp and head lice. The Legal Fracas Six years of legal disputes resulted in the revoking of the US Neem Patent, in May 2000 by the European Patent office. The US department of agriculture and a US multinational firm, had applied for a patent for fungicides derived from the seeds of the Neem tree. This was strongly opposed by environmental activist Vandana Shiva, who labelled the move, "a clear case of piracy of Indian indigenous knowledge". Vandana claimed that the US had no business in trying to patent a method of healing which had been a tradition in our country over centuries. We use it to soothe chicken pox sores and for relief from stomach ailments................... Cynzya Rego -18, Bandra, Mumbai Neem leaves should be used as dhoop to repel mosquitoes ........ Ceanne Pereira - 17, Andheri, Mumbai Source: Mid-Day 23rd January, 2006 Dear Neem Foundation, I am writing to you for SMART (Sushma Medical and Ayurvedic Research Trust) is a Charitable Trust duly registered with the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra. It is a privately funded trust with a mission to work towards the welfare of our environment and its people and is currently not seeking contributions from any parties. The trust intends to develop ecology parks for children, (the first one near Mumbai) to educate them on all aspects of ecology including water conservation, water harvesting, solar and alternative fuel awareness, nature conservation and environment protection through interactive models and experiments. The ecology park will also promote an understanding of cultural diversities in India and the world around us. We have already acquired 16 acres of land at Panvel, which is about 1hour and 15 minutes away from South Mumbai. Currently, we are ready with our first draft from our architect, Mr. Cyriac Thomas, based in Kerela. Mr. Thomas has created resorts of world class designs in South India and has done a lot of eco projects. He has been selected the Eco architect of the year in 2005 and will help us in conceptualizing the whole project. I am attaching the contour plan and the first design plan that we have received from our architect for your reference. One of the main objectives of Smart Eco Park is to grow varieties of medicinal and native plants and educate the children and adults about their uses for cure of common ailments and also on their advance research for curing diseases like Parkinson, AIDS, cancer etc. We have propagated 6000 plant saplings to 30,000 saplings over last few months. As, Neem is also a medicinal plant and has a great relevance in organic farming, we thought that at our eco park, we might be able to showcase its uses and properties at best to children and adults. It will be great if your team could assist us with their professional experience and expertise to grow and procure Neem trees and guide us on its uses with organic farming. We would be happy to arrange a visit to our site for you and your team members, any time convenient to you over the next week as it may suit you. Bijesh This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Dear Madam/Sir, I am based in Manica Province, Mocambique, working in a Household Food and Nutrition Security Project for People Living with AIDS. I have experienced the benefis of Neem in Kenya and Sudan and would now like to introduce Neem in our project. I think that climate and soils are favourable for Neem. Could you please kindly provide me with addresses of local seed ditributors? Annette Jaitner This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Hello !! Greetings !! We are a part of Rotaract Club of Deonar, Youth Wing of Rotary International and i am one of the directors for my club. We being an NGO have been in existence for the past seventeen years and have done our little bit towards the society in and around Chembur and Deonar area. The most recent project being an AIDS awareness campaign. We all members are mostly students and as an initiative to do a tree plantation drive i intended to get ur help and advice as to how to go about it .... the most important question which we are not able to answer to ourself is how to maintain the trees after planting it ???? we have a lot of man-power, we can surely arrange for finance. We intend to do the tree plantation drive on a very very large / mega scale.....but the big question as i said is who will and how will we maintain those trees ??? We are planning to do this tree plantation drive somewhere in april or may when we will be having our vacations....so till then we want to do the groundwork... Kindly help us and guide us in doing something big...something which no one has dreamt of.... Gautham This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|