Uses of neem Oil in organic farming.

            Neem oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the Neem Tree. The botanical name of neem tree is Azadirachta indica. Azadirachtin and Nimbin found in neem oil are the two major compounds responsible for its antibacterial and antifungal actions. The neem tree has its origin in Indian subcontinent.

Uses of Neem oil-

       1. Neem oil is used as an Organic Pesticide worldwide. It has an excellent safety profile and the best efficacy to treat a large number of pest attacks on your plants. It is infact a broad spectrum pesticide, effective on pests like Aphids, Mealybugs, Whiteflies, Caterpillars,leaf miners, fungus,  Thripsand mites, Greenflies, Grasshoppers and other Scale insects. It kills pests in all their life cyle stages like the adult stage or the larval stage.

          2. It has the Anti bacterial, anti viral and anti fungal properties not only for use on plants but also prescribed for humans and pets for various skin and hair problems.

      3. Its also effective on Slugs and snails which eat away a lot of your crops overnight.

           4. It highly Effective in the Treatment of Blackspot Rose disease, Rose die back disease and Powdery mildew.

         5. Neem cake is an excellent organic fertilizer for your plants. Neem cake is the by-product left over after the process of extraction of neem oil from neem seeds or neem fruits.

        Its not only a source of NPK and micro nutrientsfor plant growth, but when mixed with soil acts as a soil conditioner and also antibacterial and antifungal. You can avoid fungus gnats if you incorporate about 10 percent neem cake powder in your potting mix.

       6. Last but not the least is, unlike the chemical pesticides, it does not affect the beneficial pollinators like butterflies and honey bees which are very important for a fruitful gardening.

These all are the uses of Neem oil.

      Now, we will discuss about  method of extraction of neem oil from seeds. There are three methods:                                                

1. Heat Pressing method. 

2. Solvent extraction method and 

3. Cold Press method. Heat pressing method as the name implies, its using heat for crushing or pressing the seeds to extract oil.
Solvent extraction means using a solvent like alcohol is used to extract neem oil. This solvent extracted neem oil usually has a low price, because it is turbid and contains a significant amount of water and metals with low content of the important compounds namely azhadiractin and nimbin.

Heat extracted neem oil also has moderate loss of the useful compounds and less effective. Whereas the Cold pressed Neem oil extracted without applying any heat, is the best and effective source for neem oil. So, when you are purchasing from a local market store or online, make sure you check the method of extraction mentioned on the bottle or product description.

          Now Finally How to use Neem oil properly for the best effects. 

Now before I start with the neem oil recipes for plants,you should consider following points  for safety points of view. It has few effects when concentrated form is ingested like stomach irritation causing gastritis and vomiting. Then eye irritation and contact dermatitiscan develop on contact specially in children. Otherwise it has an excellent safety profile and its completely biodegradable.  

Now the recipe for Neem Oil you can make at Home

Before this, few important points you must remember: 1. Because its an oil, it doesn't mix well with water and must be mixed with some kind of surfactant like liquid soap or even shampoo for proper mixing and the coating effect on the plant leaves. 2. Make sure you do not spray neem oil during the sunlight best time to spray is in evenings after the sun fades. 

To Make the best broad spectrum pesticide foilar spray formulation for 1 litre: Take 1 litre Warm Water and add 10 drops of liquid soap like your handwash or even some shampoo. Then you add 5 ml to 10 ml of Neem oil into this. 5 ml if you want to spray as a maintenance pesticide spray for your garden crops  where you do not have much pests. 10 ml if you have lot of pests on your plants, in the same proportion you can use it for your farm crops. Mixing this thoroughly before use is very important. Perform a PATCH TEST to know how strong it is. This means you Just spray this on one or two leaves and then wait for a couple of hours to see if the leaf is wilting or burning due to too much concentration of neem oil. If you pass the patch test, you can spray it on your whole garden safely. Patch test may be important for newbie gardeners or if you have purchased a new brand of neem oil from some company for the first time. Also make sure you spray the underside of the leaves as well.

3. How frequently should you use neem oil? Depending on the severity of pests, use it twice a week for pest eradication phase and then weekly once for 1 or two months and finally if everything is clean use it once every 15 days as a preventive measure.

Conclusion :- So in this article we have provided a brief but detailed information about Neem oil and its uses in organic farming. Proper use of Neem oil will definitely give you best results.

Please comment if this article was helpful for you.