Neem plantation has led to drop in suicides in Maharashtra
Coimbatore (PTI): Claiming that its neem plantation campaign in the Vidarbha region of Maharasthra has helped in bringing down the suicide rate among farmers, the Neem Foundation on Tuesday said it planned to extend the scheme across the country.
The Delhi-based non-governmental organisation had advised farmers of the region, hit hard by the agrarian crisis, to go in for neem cultivation as it could be used as a fertiliser as well as a pesticide, its General Secretary Pramila Thakkar told PTI here.
The use of neem helped the farmers cut down on the cost of fertilisers and pesticides, she added.
The campaign launched by the foundation's centre in the region since 1998 with the help of the Maharashtra Government on the benefits of neem was a big hit and each farmer there had planted two neem saplings to derive the benefit, she said.
The foundation was planning to set up three more such centres in the South, North and East, Thakkar said adding it was holding negotiations with the West Bengal Government seeking the latter's cooperation in this regard.
As far as the South, where more suicides were reported in Kerala, discussions were on with the Tea and the Coffee Boards to propagate the benefits of neem in the agriculture sector, she said.
"The foundation wants the neem to find its right place in every sector," she added.
Agri. & Commodities
