Neem Tree – Primal Group

A Bright Future for Business in Brazil

For investors interested in Brazil the past few months have been exciting. The Temer administration continues to implement significant policies to increase investments and productivity in the country. Regulatory agencies have been transformed to improve governance and budget independence, there is a newfound prevalence of negotiation over once draconian labor legislation and the country’s famously protectionist tax system is in the process of being completely redesigned. For the first time in four years, the Central Bank has begun a rate-cutting cycle in October that trimmed its benchmark-lending rate to 14% from 14.25%. The Brazilian government has even launched the first package of 34 new infrastructure concessions that span across the agriculture, energy and transportation sectors.…

The Organic Revolution in Cuba

Whether you praise or vilify the late Fidel Castro’s legacy in Cuba, there is no denying one of the country’s greatest achievements – organic agriculture. Forced to turn towards sustainable farming for self-sufficiency, the transition has ensured a safe, nutritional and environmentally friendly food system that is the subject of envy to many around the world.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1990s completely destroyed Cuba’s ability to feed itself. Within a year the country had lost 80% of its trade as well as an impressive 1.3 million tons of chemical fertilizers. Unable to import the machinery, fuel or petrochemical crop care inputs than allowed the country to produce cheap food at an industrial rate, a significant percentage of the population almost immediately began suffering from malnutrition.…

Charting the Rise of Biopesticides in Modern Agriculture

Agriculture has reached a crossroads. In order to survive and thrive in this new millennium we need to revolutionize our production methods to ensure a secure, accessible and long-lasting food supply for everyone.

Feeding the world in a safe and sustainable manner is a considerable challenge, especially with a rising global population, significant arable land degradation and crop yields starting to show a decline. The primary obstacles to sustainable food security today are the combination of these factors combined with an economic model and thought system, nurtured throughout the industrial revolution, that views social progress as the ability to produce at maximum capacity and at any financial or environmental cost.…

The Global Cost of Diabetes has Reached Unprecedented Levels

Diabetes has been a global health issue for the past two decades and the situation has only deteriorated with the latest reports from the Imperial College of London, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, The World Health Organization as well as the International Diabetes Federation calling for a global emergency. Over 415 million people suffer from Diabetes in the world, a significant increase from the 108 million in 1980. This still pales in comparison to the 2040 estimates soaring over the 640 million mark.

Source: International Diabetes Federation

Diabetes Mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases caused by a prolonged period of high blood sugar (Glucose) levels.…

The Tree of the 21st Century

The neem tree (Azadirachta Indica) is an evergreen and part of the Meliaceae (mahogany) family, celebrated for its remarkable healing properties as far back as 5,000BC by the Harappa and Mohenjo civilizations. Described in ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts as ‘Sarva roga nivarini’ (the universal healer of all ailments) and ‘Nimba’ (giver of good health), neem’s name is ‘Arista’ in Sanskrit – meaning ‘perfect, complete and imperishable’. Fast-forward to the present day and neem is becoming renowned for its contributions to sustainable agriculture, as well as for its applications in the medicinal and environmental sectors worldwide.

Nearly two years old, the neem tree above is well on its way to producing 60 pounds of fruit each year

Though known for centuries in rural settings across Asia as the ‘Village Pharmacy’, and while research into neem has been underway in India since the 1920s, it was only in 1959 that a German entomologist in Sudan made a groundbreaking observation.…