Mr. Yunus Khan is an Agriculture Consultant at B K Consultancy & Services in Akola ,Maharashtra. He is an agricultural graduate and expertise in fruits and vegetable cultivation. Mr. Yunus Khan provides consultation to all farmers and especially deals in horticulture with marginal & drought area farmers. During the meeting he would like to talk on incredible benefits of neem as fertilizer .
Indian farmers have traditionally used de-oiled neem cake as a fertilizer in their fields. The dual activity of neem cake as fertilizer and pest repellent, has made it a favoured input. Neem leaves have also been used to enrich the soil. Together, they are widely used in India to fertilize cash crops. When neem cake is ploughed into the soil it also protects plant roots from nematodes and white ants. Farmers in southern parts of India puddle neem leaves into flooded rice fields before the rice seedlings are transplanted. Application of the neem seed cake to crops provides them with various nutrients. Besides, the neem seed cake also reduces the number of soil insect pests, fungi, bacteria and nematodes and protects the crop from damage caused by these organisms. Neem seed cake can also reduce alkalinity in the soil by producing organic acids when mixed with the soil.