Treatment of stored grains with Neem

Treatment of stored grains

Grains and pulses can be stored by mixing them with neem products like dried leaf powder, kernel powder or oil. The neem oil used against stored grain pests should be 1 % by weight of the grain. If the grain is used for seed purposes, 2% can be used. Using oil is easier than using leaves. The active ingredients of the neem plant are located in their maximum amounts in the seed and kernel.

Treatment of jute bags for storing grains

The jute bag is dipped into a 10% neem kernel solution (here, no emulsifier need be added to the solution) for 15 minutes. After having been dried in the shade, the bag can now be used for storing grains. The stored grain pests will be repelled by the action of neem. If the jute bags are new, they should be soaked for half an hour. For jute bags with close meshes and small pores, a thinner solution can be used. It should be ensured that the bags are soaked on all sides in the extract. If the seeds or grains are kept inside the house or in a godown, where the temperature is stable and sunlight minimal, longer residual action of the neem product is obtained and the repellent effect will persist for four months. In storerooms, along with the cowdung that is used for cleaning the mud floor, neem cake or neem oil can be used straightaway

(in the same concentration as used for spraying purposes). The same could also be used for the mud walls. Neem cake solution or neem kernel extract could also be sprayed. If one is using bamboo bins for storage, then one can paint the bins with a solution prepared from neem cake. To the dry neem cake powder, water is added, and a thick paste of this is painted all over the grain bin. If one wishes to store it for more than four months, the process should be repeated every four months. Neem products work by intervening at several stages of the life of an insect. They may not kill the pest instantaneously but incapacitate it in a number of ways. The precise effect of various neem extracts on insect species is often difficult to pinpoint.