1.0 Introduction
Azadirachta indica,commonly known as neem in English and Dogonyaro in Hausa,is an evergreentree in the Mahogany family Meliaceae. It is native to India, Pakistan and Burma, growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions (Balakrishnan et al., 2007).
It is the most versatile, multifarious tree of the tropics with immense potential growing to about 25m in height with semi-straight to straight trunk, 3m in girth and spreading branches forming a broad crown (Kumar and Gupta,2002).
It possesses useful non-wood products (leaves, bark, flowers, fruits, seed, gum, oil and neem cake) than any other tree species. These non-wood products are known to have antidermatic, antifeedent, antifungal, anti-inflammatory antipyorrhoeic, antiscabic, cardiac, diuretic, insecticidal, larvicidal, nematocidal, spermicidal and other biological activities (Brahmachari,2004). The wider application and activities of neem have made it a green treasure (Khanna, 1992,Suri and Mehrotra 1994).
The tree has adaptability to a wide range of climatic, topographic and edaphic factors. It thrives well in dry, stony shallow soils and even on hard calcareous soils or clay pan at a shallow depth (Koul et al.,1990,Schmutterer, 1990).
Neem tree requires little water and plenty of sunlight (Anonymous,2006, Sateesh,1998). The tree grows naturally in areas where the rainfall is in the range of 450 to 1200 mm.However, it has been introduced successfully even in areas where the rainfall is as low as 150 to 250 mm. It grows on altitudes up to 1500 m (Chari, 1996, Jattan et al., 1995, Tewari, 1992).
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