Neem is a tree, whose each and every part is useful in one or other manner. Consider the leaves, stem, birch , bark or seeds etc, all of its parts has medicinal and anti- bacterial properties. And Now, Neem has been using as a soil nutrient. Neem coated urea is the most effective and efficient form of urea. After Prime Minister Modi’s stress on using the neem based urea on the Indian land, the significance and importance of Neem has been highlighted by many folds.
It has been made mandatory for all the imports and production of urea in the country to be neem based. Co-operatives like IFFCO has its special focus for Neem coated urea. The MD and CEO of IFFCO, Dr. U S Awasthi with his efforts, have planted 40 lakh neem in the duration of 2 years. IFFCO at its own level also has invested a lot in planting neem saplings.
As already mentioned above, since the country is only expecting neem based urea now, it makes one to ponder : DO WE HAVE ENOUGH NEEM TREES IN THE COUNTRY AVAILABLE?
The simple answer to the above question, is NO, we don’t have enough Neem. But the efforts to increase the number of NEEM trees is tremendous.
Farmers are encouraged to grow Neem along with their usual cropping. Interspersing crop plantations with trees can lead to better ecological diversity, improve soil quality and reduce erosion, offer additional income opportunities and provide firewood and animal fodder. Rural communities often rely on forests for firewood and often spend considerable amounts of time collecting it.
The Neem tree does not need extensive care for growing and the Indian climate is favorable for its growth. At the road sides, Neem trees are generally seen whose nimboli and leaves otherwise go wasted since not much of its importance is known.
The otherwise wasted neem seed and nimboli can be sold at a handsome price of Rs.15/kg. Farmers can submit nimboli at any nearest IFFCO center.
A neem plant generally takes 10 years to bear fruits. A research project is on-going in Dehradun, where a variety of neem is being developed which could grow in least time and bear fruits before 10 years of current duration.3 year of that research has already passed and good results are expected by 2018. Once the research is completed the seeds of the neem variety would be made available to the farmers.
On a rough average, 1 neem tree has the potential of giving Rs. 600 annually and 20 trees can fetch more than Rs. 12000 easily. This is the money generated by only selling the nimboli. The other neem products like leaves, bark are also used in cosmetic industries which too can be used to get cash benefits. Many farmers are coming forward to opt for neem which could be a good secondary source of income for farmers.
Farmers can also sell thier products by logging in to IFFCO Kisan website : https://www.iffcobazar.in/
Farmer Friends are requested to share this word with others, so that we all have a better future ahead with better earning opportunities.
