Castor beans play an important role in the chemical industry where castor oil and derivatives are used as raw materials in the production of plastics, coatings and paints, pharmaceuticals and other materials.

Founded in May 2016 by BASF, speciality chemicals company Arkema, oleochemical firm Jayant Agro-Organics and implementation partner Solidaridad, more than 8,000 farmers working on more than 9,000 hectares of mostly semi-arid land were now certified under the Pragati programme, BASF said.

Pragati is the Hindi word for progress and the project was driven by a baseline survey of more than 1,000 castor farmers in Gujarat, India.

The project’s goal is to enable sustainable castor crop production by using good agricultural practices to increase yield and farmer income, the efficient use of water resources and maintenance of soil fertility, the adoption of good waste management practices and better health and safety practices, and respect for human rights.

Around 100,000 tonnes of certified castor seeds were being cultivated in the 2023/24 crop cycle, compared to 74,500 tonnes the previous year, while farmers certified under the SuCCESS Supply Chain Code had achieved 57% higher yields than the yield published by the local government for the region, BASF said.

As part of the programme’s third phase (2023-2026), BASF said there had been an increased focus on fostering the involvement of women in castor farming, with more than 1,100 women from 17 project villages joining the scheme last year.

“The good agricultural practices I have learnt have helped me reduce the cost of cultivation by 20-25%. I have also started using certified seeds, which help me grow healthier crops and produce more,” Patel Sitaben Rameshbhai, a castor oil farmer from Kahoda village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district said.