Matiur Rahman
(The writer is a Deputy Conservator of Forests)
With the growing drift of human population in the world in general and in our country in particular, the inclination of producing more and more food grains as much as being required for noshing the enhanced number of consumers, chemical fertilizers as well as the chemically produced noxious pesticides/insecticides are being used to control pests/bugs in our plant kingdom. Consequence upon doing so, we are contaminating all aspects of our environment Viz Air, Water and Soil, and eventually all the strictures of healthy environment lose their own potentialities to help in growing healthy crop on the soil. This phenomenon of using toxic chemical in controlling pests causing harm to our plant kingdom may be substituted with organic one which can easily be prepared with minimal cost in our homes. There may be scope of preparation of a number of organic pesticides, but the cheapest and easily derivable ones need to be developed for the common people. However, such organic pesticides can be prepared by using the locally available ingredients in the ways as discussed below.
Using vegetables:
Two types of organic pesticides can be prepared from vegetable as tabulated below-
Using neem leaf:
Neem has long been used for its medicinal and culinary properties. It is also known to be used as a deterrent to pests. The neem leaf has a bitter taste and strong odour that may keep the bugs away from our plants, but non-toxic to animals, birds, plants and humans. The most prominent constituent of neem is azadirachtin, which has been established as a pivotal insecticidal ingredient. It acts as an anti-feedant, repellent, and repugnant agent and induces sterility in insects by preventing ovipositor and interrupting sperm production in males.
The pesticide can be prepared both in liquid as well as in powder form at home as shown in the following table-
Benefits of use of organic pesticides:
Enormous benefits can be availed on the use of organic pesticides in our plants as described herein:
1. Environmental benefits:
Organic pesticides will replace the prevailing noxious chemical pesticides and will be keeping our environment free from pollution and contamination. It will help save the food chain of living organisms from being polluted due to use of chemical pesticides and thus overall health condition of man and animals will be keeping hygienic. Moreover, our mother earth will sustain its fertility due to use of powder forms of organic pesticides in soil for growing healthy crops on it. Lastly, it will encourage local communities for planting more Neem trees and thus our green cover will be augmented.
2. Economical benefits:
Whenever there will be demand of raw materials like Hot Peppers, Garlic, Bitter Melon (Tita Karela) and Neem Leaf for production of organic pesticides, there will be scope of cultivating these species of plants in the homestead of common people. On bulk demand of such organic pesticides in large scale, the supply of raw materials will be increased and thus there will be scope of development of entrepreneurship amongst the rural people. In this way the rural community of our country will be economically benefitted, by growing more vegetables in this context specially the bitter melon (Tita Karela) and Hot Peppers. Besides, the all sections of stakeholders, including Government machineries will also get back-up in raising Neem Trees in every alcove.