Have you ever wondered of replacing these synthetic pesticides for protecting plants in your kitchen garden or plants indoor from insect pests? Or, you want to live a green life, where you grow some useful trees and shrubs and use them in your daily life? If not, today I'm going to tell you about something that might be helpful for doing this. What I'm going to talk about is use of some incredible botanicals that have insecticidal property and repel insects when their extracts are sprayed over plants.
Plants of families Meliacea ranks first in consisting of more than 500 plants of insecticidal property.
Neem, globally known as Azadirachta indica is one of the multipurpose tree of Meliacea family that possess insecticidal property among various other uses.
Neem is native to Indian sub-continent and usually tropical evergreen plant but it can also be planted in sub-tropical areas. Both seeds and leaves of Neem tree can be used to extract Azadirachtin, active ingredient and can be used in various forms like Neem oil, Neem cake, Neem kernel extract and suspension. It can be used to control a wide range of insect pests.
By 1990, researchers had shown that neem extracts could influence almost 200 insect species. These included many that are resistant to, or inherently difficult to control with, conventional pesticides: sweet potato whitefly, green peach aphid, western floral thrips, diamondback moth, and several leafminers, for instance.
In general, it can be said that neem products are medium- to broad-spectrum pesticides of plant-eating (phytophagous) insects. They affect members of most, if not all, orders of insects, including Orthoptera (such as grasshoppers, crickets, locusts), Homoptera (Aphids, leafhoppers, psyllids, whiteflies, scale insects, and other homopterous pests), Coleoptera (The larvae of all kinds of beetles—especially those of phytophagous coccinellids), Lepidoptera (larvae of most lepidopterous pests), Diptera (fruit fly, face fly, botfly, horn fly, and housefly), Hymenoptera (larvae of sawflies), Heteroptera (The "true" bugs—including many pests such as the rice bug, the green vegetable bug) and many more [ https://www.nap.edu/read/1924/chapter/6
The National Academics of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine].
Neem affect various stages of insect and affect insect vigour, longevity and fecundity, antifeedant action, insect growth regulatory activity, oviposition deterrent, repellent action and reduction of life span of adults and intermediates formation (Larval-pupal, nymphal-adult and pupal-adult) [agmoocs.in, course on IPM].
How to use?
Preparation and use of neem extracts may vary widely. But in general, neem leaves can be used by grinding it and extracting it's juice (fresh condition) or powder (dried condition) and can be sprayed over plants mixing water according to the state of infestation. To prepare neem seed kernel extract, one can follow the procedures shown in the figure that I have attached below. It can also be used in combination with other botanicals having insecticidal property which I'll try to describe in another report.
The reason I have described only insecticidal property of neem tree is that, it is one of the promising species of Azadirachta genus and possess many other importances in human life too- health benefits, protection of stored grains, etc. As neem extract is naturally occurring chemical substance, it doesn't have any such negative impacts on other organisms and human as well.
So, Neem tree can be one of the best tree to be planted around your home or fields for pest management in eco friendly manner.
References:
agmoocs.in ( course on Integrated Pest Management)
https://www.nap.edu/read/1924/chapter/6
Source of image :https://agritechnepal.com/2020/04/neem-know-the-cultivation-techniques-health-benefit-medicinal-agricultural-uses/2615/
7 Comments
Greetings asmita
I hope you are doing well
Thank you so much for this report highlighting neem
Keep writing
Green cheers
Regards
Asmita Gaire
Posted 29-09-2020 23:47
Thank you for this informative report Asmita.
Posted 21-07-2020 02:11
its very good biopesticide and have medicinal purpose as well
thankss for sharing
Posted 20-07-2020 17:45
Thank you for this informative report.
Keep writing.
Regards,
Pooja
Posted 19-07-2020 18:43
Nice report. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 19-07-2020 00:57
Thanks for sharing!
Posted 18-07-2020 23:37
Hello Asmita!
I hope you are fine and doing great!
Neem is a plant having multipurpose use .It is used as pharmaceutical agent as well.
Replacing chemical fertilizer with the plant extract like that from Neem plant is one of the way to control pest eco-friendly.
Thanks for sharing!
GREEN CHEEERS!
Regards,
Sonika
Posted 18-07-2020 23:33