Commercial production of neem pesticide begins in Morang

By Our Correspondent,Urlabari, July 10: Commercial production of neem oil as a biological pesticide has begun in Nepal.  

The produced neem oil has been sent to the government labs for testing and it will be supplied to the market after receiving the report from labs.

The Community Development and Solutions Pvt. Ltd. has, for the first time, started the commercial production of neem oil as a biological pesticide at Sundarharaicha Municipality-8 in Morang district. 

 Baburam Niraula, the owner of the industry, said that farmers have recently started using harsh chemical pesticides to kill insects in the crops, and biological pesticides have started replacing them.

Jay Shreeram Agro Farm including Niraula’s is growing neem commercially on a plot of 35 bigha land in Rangeli-1, Morang. 

Niraula and his team started looking for alternative pesticides after insects caused damage to the company that was cultivating dragon fruits commercially. 

Niraula started producing neem oil after returning to Nepal after studying the production and use of biological pesticides at the Rural Agricultural Development Institute of Rajasthan, India.

Studies have shown that neem oil kills fruit-sucking insects, makes chewing insects distasteful, and helps the friendly insects of meat-eating species to survive. 

Neem is commercially produced in Nashik, India. 

Niraula, an industrialist, said that after seeing that the farmers were being encouraged to cultivate neem and collect seeds, it seemed possible to cultivate it in Nepal as well.

The cost of bringing dried neem seeds from India to Nepal is Rs. 200 per kg. The cost of ripe grains is Rs. 95 per kg and raw grains are sold at Rs. 

15 per kg.

After looking at the feasibility of cultivating neem commercially in Nepal, Community Development and Solutions  Pvt. Ltd. has requested the Ministry of Tourism, Forestry and Environment of Koshi Province to keep neem nurseries in all 17 government nurseries in Morang. 

The company has planted neem trees in two bighas of land at Jay Shreeram Agro Farm. 

Likewise, on his initiative, about 1,200 saplings of neem have been planted in the community forest land in Kerabari. 

Similarly, neem trees will be planted on 10 bigha land of Purbanchal University.

Niraula said that as the necessary raw materials required for producing neem oil can be produced in Nepal, a huge amount of Nepali rupees will be saved. 

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Mishra, secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that there is a good market for neem oil and other products in India. 

He said that the state will support the production of neem oil and pina (mustard seed meal) as their demand is high not only in Nepal but also in India. 

According to Dr. Mishra, there is no need to bring raw materials from India if we coordinate with community forests to plant trees on the barren land.

Mahesh Chandra Acharya, the head of the Central Agricultural Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture, said that employment can be created in Nepal through the commercial cultivation, processing and production of neem. 

He said that Nepali people could cultivate, produce and process neem to prevent Nepali currency from going out.