Utilization of Neem and Neem Products in Agriculture

Abstract

The excessive dependence on pesticides and fungicides to protect the crops from various pathogens and pests has caused irreparable losses to our land and water resources in addition to severe degradation of soil quality and beneficial soil micro-flora. In this chapter, we have focused on the use of neem and its products in agriculture to curb and mitigate the losses caused by chemicals which have been used indiscriminately and incessantly since past decades. Synthetic pesticides enable safer control of pest population but these neem-based products come with few challenges as well like short shelf life, photosensitivity, and volatilization which causes hindrance in their application at commercial level.