New successes with organic pesticides 2
In Nicaragua, locally manufactured neem insecticides are helping farmers to boost the export of their organically grown crops. The neem was first planted in Nicaragua about 20 years ago in a programme to help reforest the dry regions. In 1992, a cooperative (COPINIM) was set up to buy and process neem seeds into insecticides on a commercial scale. Three products are now marketed two powders and one oil extract. The powders are not very soluble in water and it can take up to eight hours to prepare the solution. The oil extract is easier to use but is more expensive at about $12 a litre, although this is still cheaper than the chemical pesticides imported from the USA. COPINIM has become a serious competitor to the agrochemical companies. Demand by farmers for the neem insecticides is now outstripping supply with over 10,000 hectares of crops such as maize, sesame, soya and beans being protected by neem. Farmers growing crops organically are the biggest users of the neem insecticides and they are finding that demand from US consumers for soya, red beans and sesame is growing at a rate of 20% per year. There is increasing interest from farmers in neighboring countries (El Salvador and Costa Rica) for the neem products but COPINIM is resisting the temptation to make money out of an export trade. They want to ensure that Nicaraguan farmers, especially small-scale farmers, are served first. COPINIM 15 km Carretera Nueva Leon NICARAGUA
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| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
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Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
1997
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/48734 http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta69e/ |
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