Neem – The Tree of the 21st Century!

Neem – The Tree of the 21st Century!
by Klaus Ferlow, HMH, HA

Here is the story how the Neem tree from India was rediscovered and the public at large has not been aware of it!

The miraculous versatile medicinal Neem tree, Azadirachta indica A. Juss according to Dr. Ramesh Saxena, Chairman of the Neem Foundation and core-founding member of the World Neem Organisation, Mumbai, India offers better plant, human, animal, and environmental health. The tree has been part of the oldest most successful botanical medicinal system in the world – AYURVEDA from India with a history of over 5000 years but it seems that the benefits and healing power of this remarkable tree were almost forgotten till the Professor Dr. Heinrich Schmutterer from Germany, a world renowned scientist and entomologist while working as an agricultural research officer in 1959 in Sudan noticed an outbreak of locust.

He saw a swarm of locust settling on the Neem trees, but soon flew away in spite of their voracious behavior, they did not feed on them! After they departed, he noticed while every other plant was completely defoliated, the Neem trees were still green and unharmed. And, as an expert on tropical pests, he became curios.

In an interview with the Times of India newspaper December 2, 2002, which was also published in the Global News Update newsletter of the Neem Foundation it surprised everybody that not an Indian doctor but a hearty German turns to be “the most knowledgeable person about “Neem on the planet” and Professor Dr. Schmutterer was given the name “The father of modern Neem!”

Professor Dr. Schmutterer attended as keynote speaker the second World Neem Conference in 2002 in Mumbai, India and talked about the Neem tree as “perhaps the most useful tree in the world!”

He was with the Institute of Phytopathology and Applied Zoology at the Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany and set-up a Neem research lab. As a result he published in 1995 his first book “THE NEEM TREE” and worked as editor on the second revised edition with 50 scientists and academics from around the world for the commercial agricultural industry and the book was published in 2002 by the Neem Foundation.

He was also a contributor together with Dr. Ramesh Saxena to the book “Neem – A Tree For Solving Global Problems,” published by the Academy Press, Washington, D.C. In 1992 and was interviewed by Dr. David Suzuki for the video “What's in a Neem?” broadcast in 1994 by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, Toronto, Ontario in the program “The Nature of Things.

I had the privilege meeting Dr. Saxena as a speaker at the 6th World Neem Conference, Nov. 21-24, 2012 in Nagpur, India and I met Prof. Dr. Schmutterer in his home town Wettenberg in Germany in 2015 and I am fortunate that both of them collaborated with me for my book “Neem – Nature's Healing Gift to Humanity.”

This is when my journey started viewing the video from Dr. David Suzuki and I have done research about the incredible Neem tree for the last 25 years and to my knowledge I am the only one doing this work in Canada! I am also the only Canadian author/publisher of a consumer Neem book and only the second author/publisher in North America! The book is now available from amazon in paperback and as e-book, see: www.neemresearch.ca/shop and www.neemresearch.ca/book-review-lorna-hancock

For thousands of years humans have sought to fortify their health and cure various illness with herbal remedies. The search for a true panacea or cure-all has been undertaken by virtually every civilizations. While hundreds or even thousands of substances have been tried and tested, few have withstood modern scientific scrutiny. Perhaps no other botanical plant better meets the true definition of a panacea than the Neem tree, a tropical evergreen native to India and Myanmar (Burma). From ancient to modern times, every part of this fascinating tree has been used to treat hundreds of different maladies. This miraculous healing herb is truly an ancient medicine for a modern world.” No wonder that the United Nations declared it as “The tree of the 21st century!” and in India it is called “The Village Pharmacy.

By using our Neem shampoo, conditioner, oil blend and soap with no harmful ingredients introduced beginning of 1994 as the first company to the Canadian market, I was able to alleviate my severe psoriasis on the scalp and elbows I had suffered for over 40 years!

In our quest for technological advancement, we have forgotten to learn from the practice of our forefathers. As a result, we have not been making good use of the centuries of knowledge and wisdom accumulated in the minds of people, based on trials and errors of the generations gone by. Thus, the new awakening in the people the world over, especially among scientists, to try to understand traditional customs, values and practices, is a welcome change. We have made a good beginning with Neem, and have learned how good an example it provides of science learning from culture. A whole world of traditional knowledge awaits our objective scrutiny.

In 1975 I founded Ferlow Brothers Ltd and it was later changed the name to Ferlow Botancials and in 2013 I founded NEEM RESEARCH to protect and promote this precious gift to humanity, the benefits and healing power no other tree has to offer. The Neem tree is the most researched tree on Mother Earth! LONG LIVE THE NEEM TREE!


Words of Wisdom

"It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"May you grow like a Neem tree."
- W. Siddiqui


References:
Schmutterer Heinrich, THE NEEM TREE, Neem Foundation, 2002
Singh Neeraj Pratap, Neem – The Village Pharmacy, International Book Distr. 2009
Chaturvedi Vaidya Suresh, Neem in Ayurveda, P.V., Sankaramkutty, 1998
National Research Council, Neem – A Tree for Solving Global Problems, Academy Press, 1992
NIIR Board of Consultants & Engineers, Hand Book on Neem & Allied Products, Asia Press

Klaus Ferlow, author, innovator, lecturer, researcher, writer, founder of Ferlow Botanicals, Vancouver, B.C. and NEEM RESEARCH, Roberts Creek, B.C., Canada, member of Health Action Network Society, Canadian Herbalist's Association of B.C., National Health Federation, United Plant Savers, International Herb Association, co-author of the book :7stepstodentalhealth', author book “Neem – Nature's Healing Gift to Humanity”.

Copyright @2017, all rights reserved.

neemresearch1@gmail.com, www.ferlowbotanicals.com

This information is summarized for its educational value only and should not be used for the diagnoses, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease. Please contact your health care provider.


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