Neem Growers in Uganda Ready to Transplant 12,000 Seedlings

Our first crop of Neem trees is being transplanted in the Kibaale District of Uganda.  This is quite an achievement as there was virtually no program  year ago.  Dr. Obadiah Monday and Rev. Apuuli Brown Patrick have spent much time talking to villagers, organizing farmers and managing workers to clear fields and make seed beds.  And now, as promised, TNI has paid the farmers for their labor on a per-seedling basis, and the tiny trees are ready to become forests.

Meanwhile, more than 400 trees from our original test batch of Neem seeds are growing fast and strong.  These will be our test trees in 2015 when we undertake our landmark study to determine how well Neem trees actually repel anopheles mosquitos.  If we develop conclusive evidence that the trees do have significant repellant capability, we will have the Uganda Ministry of Health, the UN, WHO, CDC and God knows who else clamoring for trees to plant in high-risk villages.  That is our goal.

As we have explained in our Prospectus, by the time the study is complete, the trees being transplanted today will be ready for distribution.  Approximately 2/3 will be distributed while 1/3 will remain in permanent Neem forests.... and tens of thousands of new seedlings will be ready to reinforce the effort after that.

This project is a testimony to the intense vision and work ethic of the Ugandan people.  Lacking automated equipment - plows, drills, diggers... they do it all by hand.  And the work is magnificent.  The hardest part, the getting started, is now done.  Our Ugandan partners know what to do.  I am proud of them all.