Neem seed production within Australia as a business

by Phil
(NSW)

Is there currently neem seed production in Australia? Is it likely that neem seed production may become a viable, serious business proposition within Australia?

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Neem seed production within Australia as a business

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Don't hold your breath
by: Birgit

Neem trees were promoted for planting in northern Australia in the 1970s and 1980s. Many trial plantations were established back then.

In 1999 the world's largest neem plantation was in northern Queensland. Once those trees came into production it became obvious that they create massive environmental problems.

But even if you ignore those problems, it doesn't look promising.

The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation did a feasibility study in 2001.

According to that study the major challenges in Australia area:

  • High costs of harvesting the seeds. (In India this is done by manual labour, that's a bit expensive here.)

  • Processing. (Extracting the active ingredient azadirachtin in a way that's cost efficient and gives a stable, non toxic product.)

  • The efficacy of the products on specific insect pests, for use on specific crops or in certain circumstances isn't researched enough yet. Makes marketing and selling the stuff difficult.
  • No neem products are registered for agricultural, therapeutical or veterinary use, despite repeated attempts to do so.

It's the whole system that would need to be developed: production, processing, distribution. There is no machinery, no plants, no knowledge, not enough demand. And if you can't get any neem products registered in this country then that's unlikely to change.

Also, it is cheap to import neem oil from overseas. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for neem to become a viable commercial crop any time soon.

You are writing from NSW. Are you wondering if one day it may be viable to grow neem in NSW? No, it won't. If at all, you would only be able to establish a viable in plantation in the tropical far north of Australia.
Neem
by: Rajni

Hi Phil,
If you are interested in any products of Neem as a business line from India, we can do.
To get a Neem Oil out of dried Neem Seed using a cold crushing is not a easy process, still if you want to process in Australia, I can try to help you.
Regards.
Rajni

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