Seminar on neem and Neem Trade Fair in B’lore to promote sustainable development
Neem Wave Exhibitions and World Neem Organisation and University of Agricultural Sciences yesterday inaugurated a two-day seminar on the theme ‘Neem as an Eco-Friendly Solution for Sustainable Development’, in Bengaluru. The Global Neem Trade Fair was also inaugurated at the event.
“The purpose of this seminar is to deliberate on nature’s gift to mankind, the Neem tree, which is the only tree that has had over nine international conferences on it,” said BN Vyas, President, World Neem Organisation. “This seminar will highlight the various benefits that the neem tree offers us in our daily lives. For example, the Prime Minister had directed all fertiliser manufacturers in the country to produce all urea with a coating of neem oil, and it has proved to be a win-win situation for both the industry and the farmers.”
Despite the advantages, Vyas added that there was low public acceptance and awareness due to high cost of neem-based products. “This is because there is a challenge in the organised collection of neem seeds which is confined to five states: Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. World Neem Organisation has come into existence to address these issues and create public acceptance of this nature’s gift.”
Nirmala Kothari, Founder, Member and General Secretary, World Neem Organisation, suggested that a neem database and neem mapping will help track the number of neem trees in the country, which in turn would help research in agriculture and medicine.
Rajendra Prasad, Vice Chancellor, UAS, GKVK, said, “Most of the natural resources are sinking and the cultivable area is decreasing, but we have to face the challenge of feeding the ever growing population. At what cost is a question that we need to address. There is a lot of deliberations at the national level on addressing these challenges and one of the solution is to switch to organic farming.”
According to organisers, the two-day seminar will witness various lectures by eminent personalities and neem scientists from across the globe. These include Klaus Ferlow, Founder-President, NEEM Research, Canada; Michael Mason, CEO, NeemCO, and more. The seminar will also feature presentations by scientists, research scholars, and industrialists to project the role of neem in sustainable development in agriculture, human health, animal health, environment, and aquaculture.
Day two of the seminar will feature poster presentations on various topics on neem sustainability and more addresses. Neem Wave Exhibitions will also organise more seminars and Neem Trade Fairs in coming months across the country, and also open a chain of exclusive neem shops titled ‘Neem Bazaar.’