Neem tree hinders fruiting

By Vision Reporter Azadirachta Indica (Neem tree) planted within close range of insect-pollinated plants, stops them from bearing fruits because it is an insect repellant. A number of people who planted neem trees close to mangoes, which are pollinated by insects, are crying foul. The mangoes have failed to fruit. Azadirachta indica belongs to the Meliaceae family. Neem and Nim are the common names. Neem resists decay and insects and is tougher than teak. “This year, our mango trees have failed to fruit. We suspect the failure might be as the result of the neem tree that has started flowering this year. The neem tree was planted in March 1999,” says Ssekakozi Alexander, of Libra Commodities. He says the rate of development of the young neem plant after the first rainy season is fairly rapid. According to Firewood crops, shrub and tree species for energy production, Neem tree seeds and leaves yield azadirachtin, a compound that can be used as an insect repellent. It is a systemic pesticide that is absorbed into a plant and works from within. Japanese beetles and many other insect pests and desert locusts cannot eat plants treated with extracts of neem seeds. Azadirachtin also appears to be a nematode repellent. Plants of neem in West Africa are strikingly free of insects, due to the tree’s insect repellent constituents. Neem is a deep-rooted, medium sized tree, broad-leafed and evergreen, except in periods of drought. It has wide spreading branches forming a round crown. It has moderately thick, gray bark and its reddish heartwood is hard and durable. ends