Neem - production & trade

Neem has many uses but its most commercially important product is oil from its seeds. This is known as neem oil or margosa oil and it is used to make medicines, pesticides and cosmetics. Products containing neem oil are on the increase and are widely available in India.

Cultivation

There are about 14 million neem trees growing in India. These have the potential to yield some 3.5 million tonnes of seed each year. In principle 700,000 tonnes of oil could be harvested. But in reality only a fraction of this is produced.
A photograph of neem fruits housed in Kew's Economic Botany collection.
Image: Neem seeds are obtained from the fruits for the production of oil.

Neem trees are usually planted using seeds, but can also be propagated using cuttings. They start flowering and fruiting at the age of 3 to 5 years, but commercial yields of seed can be harvested after 10 to 12 years. The trees can live for more than 200 years and produce fruits throughout most of this time.

Fruits containing the seeds are harvested after the monsoon rains. Leaves can be collected at any time during the year. The trees can be cut for timber after they are 5 to 7 years old.

Neem oil production

The flesh is immediately removed from seeds of fruits that have been harvested for neem oil. The clean seeds are dried in the shade and stored in a cool, dry place. Dried seeds can be stored for 8 to 12 months awaiting oil extraction.

Today, seed oil is usually obtained using solvent extraction or large mechanical expellers. Small-scale producers still use traditional pressing methods. The oil often has suspended particles in it which have to be filtered out. If very refined oil is required, the oil may be processed in a centrifuge. One of the most popular neem oil products is soap. More than 18,000 tonnes of neem seed oil is used for this purpose in India.