 | Case Studies of Neem Processing Projects Assisted by GTZ in Kenya, Dominican Republic, Thailand and Nicaragua (GTZ, 2000, 152 p.) |
 |  | 4. Case studies of small-scale semi-industrial neem processing in Kenya, Thailand, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua |
| | 4.3. Small-scale industrial manufacturing of neem-based pesticides in the Dominican Republic |
| | 4.3.4 Economic assessment of the neem-processing plant in the Dominican Republic |
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4.3.4.1 Technical and economic description of FAMA's neem-processing plant
Key data
FAMA's neem-processing plant is situated in San Cristobal, Ingenio Nuevo, and comprises building of 192 sq m (housing an office, store room and processing hall).
The owner of the plant is the NGO FAMA.
Staff of the neem processing plant and distribution service:
4 labourers, full-time
2,5 administrations (part-time)
4 technicians (part-time)
The labourers work approx. 250 days/year.
Capital invested in the neem processing plant:
The total investment is 1,323,023 pesos (US$ 82,700)*25
25 16 pesos = US$ 1
Capacity of FAMA's neem-processing plant
According to FAMA, 50% of the capacity of the plant is used on average. However, this varies:
January - March: 75%
April - June and October - December: 30%
July-September: 100%
The daily capacity of the processing plant is determined mainly by the capacities of the machinery, which are given below:
Thresher: 30 - 50 kg/h, 8 h/day = 400 kg day
Hammer mill: 500 kg/h, 4000 kg/day
Monforts oil expeller 10 l/h, 80 l/day
Stirrer: 100 l volume, 400 l/day
Sealing machine: 100 1 kg bag/h, 800 kg/day
The main bottlenecks in neem processing are:
· Oil expeller
· Sorting of seeds contaminated with fungi
· Drying the seeds
The technique for manufacturing neem-based pesticides applied by FAMA follows the requirements of the Dominican market.
Table 45: Products manufactured by FAMA and their prices, in 1998
|
Products for plant protection |
Unit |
Price in pesos/unit |
Price in pesos/l or kg |
|
Neem raw oil |
50 ml |
25 |
800/l |
|
see above |
100 ml |
40 |
180/l |
|
see above |
1 l |
200 |
200/l |
|
see above |
200 l |
30,400 |
152/l |
|
Formulated neem oil |
100 ml |
20 |
200/l |
|
ditto |
1 l |
130 |
130/l |
|
ditto |
3.5 l |
410 |
115/l |
|
ditto |
200 l |
20,000 |
100/l |
|
Semilla molida (SM) (ground neem seeds) |
2 × 50g |
10 |
100/kg |
|
ditto |
250 g |
15 |
60/kg |
|
ditto |
1 kg |
30 |
30/kg |
|
ditto |
2 kg |
60 |
30/kg |
|
Torta molida/TM (ground neem cake) |
2 × 20 g |
7 |
1,757 kg |
|
ditto |
250 g |
10 |
40/kg |
|
ditto |
1 kg |
25 |
25/kg |
|
ditto |
2 kg |
50 |
25/kg |
|
Semillas enteras (whole seeds) |
1 kg |
20 |
20/kg |
|
Semillas viables (viable seeds) |
475 g |
45 |
100/kg |
|
Neem trees | |
5 | |
|
Veterinary products |
| | |
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Neem paste |
200 g |
32 |
160/kg |
|
ditto |
400 g |
54 |
135/kg |
|
ditto |
17 kg |
855 |
5.30/kg |
|
Neem by-products |
| | |
|
Neem soap |
100 g |
15 | |
|
Crude neem soap |
Approx. 100 g |
12 | |
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Mosquito/insect repellent |
125 ml |
35 | |
|
ditto |
250 ml |
55 | |
|
Aromatic neem oil |
25 ml |
20 | |
Four staff are working directly for the plant 5 days/week, but there are only four productive working days per week.
Productive hours/day: 6 (60 min × 6 = 360 min)
Given 208 labour days/year, this adds up to 74880 min/year.
The working time for a "productive unit" is 6 min which is equivalent to the production of 1 l formulated neem oil and 1 kg neem cake. This calculation is based on the minimum capacity of the machinery. According to this calculation 12.5 t formulated neem oil and 12.5 t neem cake can be produced annually.
In 1998 the following quantities were produced:
|
Formulated neem oil, |
4.646 t |
|
Raw oil |
2.780 t |
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Total oil |
7.426 t |
|
Neem cake |
4.941 t |
59.5% of the capacity of the plant is used for oil and 39.6% for neem cake.
Ground neem seeds are not considered in this calculation. The grinding is, however, not very laborious and it takes 2 hours to grind 500 kg of seeds.
Given the total amount of 11 244 tonnes annually, this processing requires a total of 22.5 to 45 hours a year.
Bottling and labelling takes approx. 112 h/year with 2 labourers.
Threshing neem kernels
Stirrer for extracting active
ingredients from neem cake with alcohol
Hammer mill for milling seeds and
neem cake
Storage room
Harvesting neem leaves at
FAMA
Collection point for neem seeds
set up by FAMA
FAMA's neem
products
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