Terawet Green Technologies
"Uniting Science with Nature" 
San Diego, California, USA * Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Mosquito Control by Neem
Mosquito is one of the most proven killers of human race over the ages.
With degrading ecology and breach in the biological grid, it has become one of the worst problems in health hazard all over the world.
At the wider community /habitat level you have to keep a check on the growth of mosquito and at the personal level you have to use repellent and have to take personal care in clothing, use of net while sleeping etc to avoid mosquito bite as much as possible.
To keep a check on mosquito population you need to use biological methods as much as possible.
It includes introduction of local fish species into waterways, restoration of elephant mosquitos and other local species of insects who feed upon mosquito larvae, but are not carriers of any dieseas themselves. Logical steps of maintaining a healty enviornment at the residential areas such as not to allow stagnant water helping the mosquito breeding ( check WHO guidelines) should be taken.
The best way to keep a check on the mosquito problem is larviciding.
Several chemicals have been indiscriminately used against mosquito larvae and as a result over the time they have developed resistance to the wide varriety of chemicals used against them.
So to tackle the mosquito problem at the larvae level, the use of safe biological products are the urgent need for the human population and enviornment alike.
Among them Neem ( Azadirachta indica ), Karanja ( Pongamia glabra) and Nishinda (Vitex negundo L ) are very inetersting.
Combination or individual use of their oil or oil cake have been studied by many scientists all over the world.
Their efficiency is well documented.
Use of these products in larviciding is the best possible method to control mosquito population ( please look into our study section).
Now on the personal front you have to take all possible action to avoid getting bitten by mosquitos.
Neem's natural mosquito repellent properties are an important weapon in the fight against malaria in third world countries.
Malaria is a big problem in tropical regions, and that is where neem grows best.
You have two main options for using neem oil to repel mosquitoes naturally, -
You can use neem in a personal mosquito repellant on the skin (for example, you can blend neem oil with coconut oil and apply it on your skin ), or you can burn it, for example as incense, or by adding neem oil to citronella flares or kerosene lamps.
With degrading ecology and breach in the biological grid, it has become one of the worst problems in health hazard all over the world.
At the wider community /habitat level you have to keep a check on the growth of mosquito and at the personal level you have to use repellent and have to take personal care in clothing, use of net while sleeping etc to avoid mosquito bite as much as possible.
To keep a check on mosquito population you need to use biological methods as much as possible.
It includes introduction of local fish species into waterways, restoration of elephant mosquitos and other local species of insects who feed upon mosquito larvae, but are not carriers of any dieseas themselves. Logical steps of maintaining a healty enviornment at the residential areas such as not to allow stagnant water helping the mosquito breeding ( check WHO guidelines) should be taken.
The best way to keep a check on the mosquito problem is larviciding.
Several chemicals have been indiscriminately used against mosquito larvae and as a result over the time they have developed resistance to the wide varriety of chemicals used against them.
So to tackle the mosquito problem at the larvae level, the use of safe biological products are the urgent need for the human population and enviornment alike.
Among them Neem ( Azadirachta indica ), Karanja ( Pongamia glabra) and Nishinda (Vitex negundo L ) are very inetersting.
Combination or individual use of their oil or oil cake have been studied by many scientists all over the world.
Their efficiency is well documented.
Use of these products in larviciding is the best possible method to control mosquito population ( please look into our study section).
Now on the personal front you have to take all possible action to avoid getting bitten by mosquitos.
Neem's natural mosquito repellent properties are an important weapon in the fight against malaria in third world countries.
Malaria is a big problem in tropical regions, and that is where neem grows best.
You have two main options for using neem oil to repel mosquitoes naturally, -
You can use neem in a personal mosquito repellant on the skin (for example, you can blend neem oil with coconut oil and apply it on your skin ), or you can burn it, for example as incense, or by adding neem oil to citronella flares or kerosene lamps.
Here are results of some of the field studies that were done on the natural mosquito repelling action of neem oil:
In 1994 the the Malaria Research Centre of Delhi, India, tested whether kerosene lamps with 1% neem oil can protect people from mosquito bites. For that test they burned the lamps in living rooms, and from 6 pm to 6 am caught the mosquitoes sitting on the walls and those attracted to human bait (i.e. volunteers).
Neem oil clearly reduced the number of bites on the volunteers and also the number of mosquitoes caught. The protection was greater against anopheles species (the ones that transmit malaria) than against culex.
A 1995 study at a field station the Malaria Research Centre in Ranipur, Hardwar, India, tested a mix of 2% neem oil mixed in coconut oil.
They showed that applying that mixture to the skin provided significant protection from various mosquitoes. It worked best against anophelines, offering 96-100% protection! (The malaria transmitting anopheles mosquitoes fall into this group). The numbers for other species were 85% for Aedes (carries dengue fever), 61-94% for Culex spp. (can carry West Nile virus) and 35% for Armigeres.
In 1996 the Malaria Research Centre of Delhi, India did another field trial with kerosene lamps in an Indian village. Kerosene lamps with 1% neem oil were kept burning from dusk to dawn in living rooms.
They found that the lamps kept the mosquitoes out of the living rooms and that the malaria incidents of the population dropped dramatically (from about ten cases per thousand people to only one in thousand). Once the lamps were removed, the mosquitoes returned and so did the malaria.
(As for the safety of this method, another 1996 study by the Malaria Research Centre in Delhi, India tested the effects of kerosene lamps with 1% neem oil. Clinical examination of 156 adults and 110 children did not reveal any major adverse effects after one year of exposure to 1% neem oil.)
It shows that depending upon what species of mosquito you are dealing with, effectiveness of use varries.
For malaria protection neem oil is fantastic.
If you combine the 96-100% protection rate of the home made mosquito repellent with burning some neem oil when sitting outside and wearing sensible clothing, you are well protected indeed.
But take for example the common house mosquitoes in northern America. They are a culex species, and neem's effectiveness against culex varies. The number of bites will be greatly reduced, but you probably still get bitten.
There are options of mixing Neem oil with other ingredients to increase the effectiveness against culex.
So to make an educated guess how effective neem oil will be, it helps to know what mosquito species are common in your area or in the area you want to visit.
There are many different kinds of mosquitoes and they are specific to different regions.
In 1994 the the Malaria Research Centre of Delhi, India, tested whether kerosene lamps with 1% neem oil can protect people from mosquito bites. For that test they burned the lamps in living rooms, and from 6 pm to 6 am caught the mosquitoes sitting on the walls and those attracted to human bait (i.e. volunteers).
Neem oil clearly reduced the number of bites on the volunteers and also the number of mosquitoes caught. The protection was greater against anopheles species (the ones that transmit malaria) than against culex.
A 1995 study at a field station the Malaria Research Centre in Ranipur, Hardwar, India, tested a mix of 2% neem oil mixed in coconut oil.
They showed that applying that mixture to the skin provided significant protection from various mosquitoes. It worked best against anophelines, offering 96-100% protection! (The malaria transmitting anopheles mosquitoes fall into this group). The numbers for other species were 85% for Aedes (carries dengue fever), 61-94% for Culex spp. (can carry West Nile virus) and 35% for Armigeres.
In 1996 the Malaria Research Centre of Delhi, India did another field trial with kerosene lamps in an Indian village. Kerosene lamps with 1% neem oil were kept burning from dusk to dawn in living rooms.
They found that the lamps kept the mosquitoes out of the living rooms and that the malaria incidents of the population dropped dramatically (from about ten cases per thousand people to only one in thousand). Once the lamps were removed, the mosquitoes returned and so did the malaria.
(As for the safety of this method, another 1996 study by the Malaria Research Centre in Delhi, India tested the effects of kerosene lamps with 1% neem oil. Clinical examination of 156 adults and 110 children did not reveal any major adverse effects after one year of exposure to 1% neem oil.)
It shows that depending upon what species of mosquito you are dealing with, effectiveness of use varries.
For malaria protection neem oil is fantastic.
If you combine the 96-100% protection rate of the home made mosquito repellent with burning some neem oil when sitting outside and wearing sensible clothing, you are well protected indeed.
But take for example the common house mosquitoes in northern America. They are a culex species, and neem's effectiveness against culex varies. The number of bites will be greatly reduced, but you probably still get bitten.
There are options of mixing Neem oil with other ingredients to increase the effectiveness against culex.
So to make an educated guess how effective neem oil will be, it helps to know what mosquito species are common in your area or in the area you want to visit.
There are many different kinds of mosquitoes and they are specific to different regions.
