Asalaamaleloum, Thanks to Momodou for posting my message. I want to repost in order to make it clear what the contents are as Gambia L does not support attachments. Members of the L will be aware of the extremely serious situation facing countries in our region due to the locust invasion currently being fought in mauritania, Senegal and Mali. Reports are of swarms of several million travelling to reap destruction. Commentators speak of the real possibility of famine and economic disaster.There are plenty of links on the web for those wishing to keep up to date with this. What can be done? Obviously governments and NGOs will be mobilising to combat this danger, but what can the ordinary farmer do to protect his/her crops, with minimum resources? The document linked here: http://tcdc.undp.org/tcdcweb/experiences/vol4/Neem%20biopesticides.pdf. Is a detailed article entitled: "Preparation of neem biopesticides at farm level" From the Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems is gives practical advice to those wishing to protect their crops using NEEM based products, easily prepared by Farmers with access to minimum resources. The article is 12 pages long but here are some relevant quotes: The Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems (CIKS) has attempted to identify the technologies that farmers were using for pest control before chemical agriculture came into the picture. It has tested these technologies in farmers’ fields and developed them in such a way that farmers can be totally self-reliant with these technologies. They need no longer be dependent on the pesticide companies. The preparation of these products is extremely simple, as is their application. In terms of efficiency, these products are very good and, in certain cases, are even more efficient than the commercially available products.... Neem has attracted worldwide attention in recent decades mainly due to its bioactive ingredients that find increasing use in modern crop and grain protection. Research has shown that neem extracts have an effect on nearly 200 species of insects. It is significant that some of these pests are resistant to pesticides, or are inherently difficult to control with conventional pesticides (floral thrips, diamondback moth and several leaf miners). Most neem products belong to the category of medium- to broad-spectrum pesticides, i.e., they are effective over a wide range of pests. The practice describes a range of neem products such as the neem leaf extract, th e neem seed kernel extract, the neem cake extract, the neem oil emulsion and also neem in combination with other plant extracts for the control of a variety of pests. The technologies using neem are extremely simple and these products can be made by the farmer in his own backyard. They have been tested in the farmers’ fields and satisfactorily proven to be effective in controlling a wide range of pests. They have also been used in controlling stored grain pests... Neem leaf extract For 5 litres of water, 1 kg of green neem leaf is required. Since the quantity of leaves required for the preparation of this extract is quite high (nearly 80 kg are required for 1 hectare), this can be used for nursery and kitchen gardens. The leaves are soaked overnight in water. The next day, they are ground and the extract is filtered. The extract is suited for use against leaf- eating caterpillars, grubs, locusts and ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~