Blog

Neem Oil Production in India

The neem trees occurring throughout India represent a large, although very scattered, resource. Already, neem oil is a common commodity traded freely in the markets, but much more could be produced. It has been estimated that India’s neem trees bear about 3.5 million tons of kernels each year and that, in principle, about 700,000 tons of oil might be recoverable. The annual production in the late 1980s was only around 150,000 tons. (About 34 tons of neem oil were exported in 1990 valued at 300,000 rupees.)

To increase the amount of oil harvested, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission has pioneered various aspects of processing the fruit and seeds over the past two decades. This grass-roots organization located in Pune has been the leading advocate for neem oil as a resource for rural villagers of India. Already, it has created the makings of a major village industry, developed on a rational and organized basis.

One difficulty, as with most oilseeds of the forest, is that neem must be harvested during the wet season, and without local drying facilities the fruits and seeds rapidly deteriorate and become contaminated with aflatoxin. Ideally, the fruits should be depulped without delay and the seeds thoroughly dried. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission has devised and popularized simple depulping process, drying, and decorticating neem products, even in the remotest villages.

Source : Khadi and Village Industries Commission