Abstract

Neem, botanically known as Azadirachta indica A. Juss, belongs to the Meliaceae (mahogany) family (Anon, 2011). It is indigenous to India and found in tropical and subtropical regions like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Mayanmar. The Siwalik hills, dry forests of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu (India) are the main habitat of the wild population (Hashmat et al., 2012). It thrives well in the dry regions of the northwest, and approximately 50% of the tree population of India is reported in Uttar Pradesh. The Science and Technology Panel of the International Development National Research Council (1992) has documented that around 60% of the total neem population of the world inhabits India (Tinghui et al., 2001). It is also grown and naturalized in Southeast Asian (Thailand, Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore) and West African countries, as well as Australia and Saudi Arabia. More recently, it has been familiarized to the Caribbean and various zones of America (Parotta, 2001).