Neem Gains Popularity In Australia
Australians lapping up neem products
Paritosh Parasher in Sydney
After cricket, yoga, curries and information technology, the medicinal values of neem are now making Australians more aware about the wonders of the Indian subcontinent.
Agriculture scientists and those in the business of cosmetics Down Under have finally discovered neem and are using its wondrous oil, powder and the subsequent residue for answers to age-old problems.
The growth in the neem cult in this country has also seen some commercial farmers jumping into the fray to grow it in the semi-tropical regions in the states of Queensland and Western Australia. Some farmers in the Northern Territory, consisting mostly of vast spreads of sun-baked arid land are also trying to grow neem.
The list of by-products of this ancient source of medicine in India and Burma (now Myanmar) being commercially produced in Australia varies from tooth pastes and skin creams to pesticides for persistent, die-hard crop insects.
A number of pioneer farmers and horticulturists -- both of commercial and experimental hues -- on the northern and western coast of Australia are reaping the dividends from their crops, which they had sown about 8-10 years ago.
The growth in the possibilities of the utilisation of neem oil and cake (residue left after oil has been extracted out of neem kernels) has seen the advent of commercial plantations in the northern region. The investors are being promised a growth of about 600 per cent over a period of 12 years.
The number of interested investors is on the increase as the stories of this wonderful medicinal tree spread.
Connor Horley, a north Queensland farmer, was among the first to explore the possibilities of growing neem for commercial use as he, with the help of the state Department of Primary Industries, started a plantation near Georgetown in the Gulf Country in the early 1990s.
The ideal environment for neem growth in north Queensland has seen his plantation being considered the paradigm of what can be obtained from this Indian tree in both commercial and scientific terms.
Another name which has made its presence felt in pioneering neem plantations is that of a western Australia company, Plantation Development. The company, as its name suggests, is deeply involved with commercial plantations Down Under.
A television programme on the medicinal and other botanical properties of neem attracted the attention of Plantation Development head David McDonald about three years ago. He immediately engaged an expert on neem, David Watson of the chemical ecology group from Keele University, Staffordshire, Britain, to prepare a report on the plant for his company.
In the late 1960s, Watson had isolated a property in neem that he named 'Azadirachtin', identifying it as a powerful potential insecticide.
While Plantation Development has planted a number of neem trees on its properties, Australian farmers are already using various neem compounds in fertiliser, insecticides and fungicides.
The beauty industry based on neem medicinal properties has also been growing and any visitor to Berri town, on the south coast of New South Wales near Sydney, invariably notices a beauty shop named Neem Organics.
Within a few years of starting operations, the store has made a niche for itself as probably the only outlet in Australia selling soaps, tooth pastes, creams, and lip balms made with neem oil.
Paritosh Parasher in Sydney
After cricket, yoga, curries and information technology, the medicinal values of neem are now making Australians more aware about the wonders of the Indian subcontinent.
Agriculture scientists and those in the business of cosmetics Down Under have finally discovered neem and are using its wondrous oil, powder and the subsequent residue for answers to age-old problems.
The growth in the neem cult in this country has also seen some commercial farmers jumping into the fray to grow it in the semi-tropical regions in the states of Queensland and Western Australia. Some farmers in the Northern Territory, consisting mostly of vast spreads of sun-baked arid land are also trying to grow neem.
The list of by-products of this ancient source of medicine in India and Burma (now Myanmar) being commercially produced in Australia varies from tooth pastes and skin creams to pesticides for persistent, die-hard crop insects.
A number of pioneer farmers and horticulturists -- both of commercial and experimental hues -- on the northern and western coast of Australia are reaping the dividends from their crops, which they had sown about 8-10 years ago.
The growth in the possibilities of the utilisation of neem oil and cake (residue left after oil has been extracted out of neem kernels) has seen the advent of commercial plantations in the northern region. The investors are being promised a growth of about 600 per cent over a period of 12 years.
The number of interested investors is on the increase as the stories of this wonderful medicinal tree spread.
Connor Horley, a north Queensland farmer, was among the first to explore the possibilities of growing neem for commercial use as he, with the help of the state Department of Primary Industries, started a plantation near Georgetown in the Gulf Country in the early 1990s.
The ideal environment for neem growth in north Queensland has seen his plantation being considered the paradigm of what can be obtained from this Indian tree in both commercial and scientific terms.
Another name which has made its presence felt in pioneering neem plantations is that of a western Australia company, Plantation Development. The company, as its name suggests, is deeply involved with commercial plantations Down Under.
A television programme on the medicinal and other botanical properties of neem attracted the attention of Plantation Development head David McDonald about three years ago. He immediately engaged an expert on neem, David Watson of the chemical ecology group from Keele University, Staffordshire, Britain, to prepare a report on the plant for his company.
In the late 1960s, Watson had isolated a property in neem that he named 'Azadirachtin', identifying it as a powerful potential insecticide.
While Plantation Development has planted a number of neem trees on its properties, Australian farmers are already using various neem compounds in fertiliser, insecticides and fungicides.
The beauty industry based on neem medicinal properties has also been growing and any visitor to Berri town, on the south coast of New South Wales near Sydney, invariably notices a beauty shop named Neem Organics.
Within a few years of starting operations, the store has made a niche for itself as probably the only outlet in Australia selling soaps, tooth pastes, creams, and lip balms made with neem oil.
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