Other products affect the insect growth by disrupting
the moulting process, so the locusts never reach adulthood. Reading this
makes me wonder whether our Indian companies which make Neem extracts
should not go to help the beleaguered Africans.
An active chemical in these extracts is azadirachtin,
which is an excellent insect anti-feedant, which causes the insects to
lose all appetite and starve themselves to death. Such a gesture would
be in the noble tradition set by Dr Yousuf Hameid of Cipla, who has
manufactured anti-HIV drugs and offered them to African governments at
rock bottom prices, in the battle against AIDS.
