Page 129 - CW E-Magazine (25-2-2025)

Point of View

Sustainable castor cultivation gets a foothold, but

much needs to be done to scale up production

and value-addition

There are only a handful of commodities in which India dominates global markets and castor oil is one of them. Between Gujarat, Rajasthan,
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India’s output of castor seeds (about 2-mt) from which the non-edible oil is derived, accounts for 80% of global
production, and the country is by far the largest exporter of the oil and some primary derivatives produced from it. This dominant position is
unlikely to be challenged, despite some efforts to grow the sturdy crop in China, Brazil and parts of Africa.

The Indian castor oil & derivatives business is characterised by a small number of players, some with integration to raw material (castor
oil), production of low & intermediate technology derivatives, and a large number of traders, especially in the upstream (oil and seeds) end
of the business.

In some (not all) applications castor oil is put to, it is indispensable. The unique chemical structure of the oil, which includes unsaturation (a double
bond), a hydroxy group, and three carboxylic acid groups (in the form of a triglyceride ester) enables the orchestration of diverse chemistries that
can serve multiple uses. The oil can be hydrogenated, dehydrated, carbonylated, acetylated, alkoxylated, epoxidised, sulphated, cleaved down the
middle – just to name a few of the reactions commercially carried out. The chemicals derived from castor oil are used as biodiesel fuels, lubricants,
plasticizers, and polyols, while castor-oil-based polymers consist primarily of alkyd resins, polyurethanes (PU), and polyesters.

Even as the castor oil business is benefitting from the increasing preference for bio-based options in several products, it does face
challenges. The volatility in its availability and price – typical of agri-based products – is a sore point amongst buyers. There are also issues
related to sustainability practices in its cultivation, and this is particularly relevant to European buyers. Much of castor oil produced in India
is used or exported as such or in the form of primary derivatives with only a small level of value addition. This has been a constant lament
for several decades now, but there is only a little to show by way of progress.

Raising seed output through sustainable practices
At the start of the fairly long castor value chain is the farmer. The decision to sow castor, instead of other cash crops, is largely determined
by price expected for the beans, though unpredictable factors such as early or delayed monsoon can push the choice one way or the other.
It helps that castor is a resilient seed that keeps well. This theoretically affords the farmer the luxury of storing it even a couple of years so
as to fetch a good price, but in reality, only the larger ones avail this.
While castor can be cultivated on semi-arid lands, it does respond well to irrigation and sound nutrient management. This has been amply
demonstrated at reasonable scale, particularly in the districts of Gujarat where it is most commonly grown.

A co-operative effort initiated by two of the leading chemical companies of the world (BASF and Arkema, who are also large castor oil
buyers), in partnership with India’s leading castor oil processor, Jayant Agro-Organics Ltd., and Solidaridad, an NGO working to develop more
sustainable supply chains for agri-commodities, has demonstrated substantial improvements in yields, reduction in farm inputs and environmental
impacts, as well as improved socio-economic conditions amongst farmers (including women) involved in the project. The ‘Pragati’ programme,
now in its ninth year, is the world’s first sustainable castor cultivation programme, and has been scaled up from 1,000 farmers in 2016 to about
10,000 now, producing about 100-kt of castor beans. In 2019, the Sustainable Castor Association was created by the founding members to open
the sustainability code (termed SuCCESS) to the larger castor community and to develop a supply chain for certified castor oil and derivatives.

Independent third-party evaluation on the impacts of the code have revealed good adoption of scientific farming practices including use
of certified seeds, use of nutrients guided by soil requirements, optimal plant spacing and inter-cropping, and furrow irrigation to reduce
water consumption. There is also wider adoption of safe practices such as storage of fertilisers and pesticides in locked drums, and usage
of personal protection equipment during spraying and harvests. Farmers in the programme were also able to give better remuneration (more
than minimum wages), as well as equal wages for men and women, while using no child labour.

Overall, farmers saw a ~15% reduction in input costs, 25% increase in yield, and 30% higher income, compared to ones carrying out
conventional farming.

Chemical Weekly February 25, 2025 129

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