Bio-pesticidal Properties of Neem (Azadirachta indica) | Chapter 03 | Advances and Trends in Agricultural Sciences Vol. 1
Consequence upon the geometrically rising world population and the increasing pressure on food items, it has become increasingly necessary to increase food production from the present level. The possibility of achieving this is not only to increase production but also to protect the crops cultivated. Crop protection can be achieved through several means. One of such is the use of pesticides. This paper therefore reviews the use of neem extracts as bio-pesticides among other plant species with inherent pesticidal activities. It is no doubt that the chemical pesticides or insecticides possess inherent toxic substances that endangers the ecological environment, operators of application equipment, soil microbiota and consumers of the agricultural products. It is therefore important that we encourage the use of biological pesticides as they affect only target pest, are easily biodegradable, increase farm land fertility, environmentally friendly, cost effective and ease of availability. I...