Neem Cakes: Best Organic Fertilizer for Your Crops

Neem is a member of the mahogany family, Meliaceae. It is today known by the botanical name Azadirachta indica. It is a common medicinal herb used in Indian home remedies.

It is known for its characteristic ability to naturally repel different types of pests ranging from mosquitoes to termites which is possible in part due to the presence of the chemical compound Azadirachtin which is a naturally occurring pest repellant, Every Indian must have heard about the use of neem in various home remedies however what many people don't know is that they are also used in fertilizers in the form of Neem cakes.

Neem oil, in its purest form, is created by cold-pressing kernels of the neem tree. The seeds and leaves produce more oil, but any part is usable. After Neem kernels are crushed for their oil, the leftover residue that is void of any oil is called Neem Cake.

NPK (or nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium), as well as nortriterpenoids and isoprenoids, are found in this seed kernel. Because these nutrients are nematicidal( used to kill plant-parasitic nematodes in nature, they end up in the seed cake. 

This “organic fertilizer” includes a wide range of vital plant nutrients, including:

•     Calcium (0.5% to 3.0%)

•     Copper (4 ppm to 20 ppm)

•     Iron (500 ppm to 1200 ppm)

•     Magnesium (0.3% to 1.0%)

•     Manganese (20 ppm to 60 ppm)

•     Nitrogen (2.0% to 5.0%)

•     Phosphorus (0.5% to 1.0%)

When you are getting the soil ready for sowing, use neem cakes. You must plough the soil deeply and completely blend the Neem cakes even while doing so. By absolutely blending the cakes into the soil, you'll gain extra harvest outcomes. While being implemented with blended vegetation, it may be utilised as an IPM (Integrated Pest management) fertiliser.

When utilized in blended vegetation, it improves IPM techniques. Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a holistic approach to developing wholesome plants. It is a way of crop control and boom that makes use of numerous crop control and boom strategies to provide vegetation with the least quantity of pesticides.

Benefits of using Neem Cakes:

• It’s bio-degradable and can be used with many other different types of fertilizers.

• As it will inhibit nitrification, It will enhance the efficiency of other fertilizers.

• Heavy metals like Chromium Arsenic, zinc, and cadmium are toxic to the soil, plants, aquatic life, and human health if their concentration is high in the compost. Heavy metals exhibit toxic effects on soil biota by affecting key microbial processes and decreasing the number and activity of soil microorganisms. As neem cakes are free from any heavy metals so it’s safe for crop use.

• It has a slow-release, this uniform release of nutrients ensures constant growth of your crops or plants during the growing season.

• The Neem Cakes act as a nutrient for plants instead of being a nutrient collector. The Neem Cake contains NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) plus other micronutrients so your plants are fed continuously through its slow release mechanism.