Mama Neem’s mission

At the Sixth World Neem Conference at the Sun and Sand Hotel in Nagpur, from November 21 to 24, 2012, Perin Fitter presented a paper on the neem mission in Maharashtra which she initiated in 2010 in association with the director of social forestry. In 2013 there are plans to introduce income generating activities for the poor and needy through harvesting of neem seeds, with backing from industrialists. Nadir B. Godrej, managing director of Godrej Agrovet Limited made a personal donation of Rs 50,000 to support the neem mission in the state, mentions a write-up received from Fitter.
Fitter, who had been mentored by Dr Ramesh Saxena (chairman of the Neem Foundation in Bombay), during his 12 years in Kenya where they worked to create neem awareness, earned the sobriquet of "Mama Neem” for her own contribution over 15 years in that country. The use of neem resulted in poverty alleviation in that African country where the versatile tree’s products were used as pesticides, fertilizers, for storage of grain, as a mosquito and cockroach repellant, for body hygiene products, as a medicine and for tick control.
For the past three years Fitter has been busy with her mission in Maharashtra. Farmers are discouraged from using harmful pesticides and encouraged to opt for safe alternatives made from neem. With many trees, bushes and seeds being planted in areas suffering from soil erosion, there has been a marked improvement in soil conservation, Fitter reveals.
As a result of her paper, delegates from Bangladesh and Mozambique have invited her to participate in their neem related activities and there have been special requests from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to extend similar awareness programs in their states, she mentions.