A sustainable castor bean project in India involving chemicals producer Arkema (Colombes / France; www.arkema.com) has been extended until July 2022 following the certification of more than 2,700 farmers. Arkema, whose products include bio-based polymers derived from castor oil, is a founding member of the project, together with BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com), Indian castor oil-based chemicals company Jayant Agro-Organics (Mumbai, Maharashtra; www.jayantagro.com) and international civil society organisation Solidaridad (Utrecht / The Netherlands; www.solidaridadnetwork.org).

The “Pragati” project involves castor farms, demonstration plots and local trading markets in the Indian state of Gujarat, which is home to about 70% of the world’s castor crop. The project was launched in 2016 with the aim of enabling sustainable castor crop production by

• using good agricultural practices to increase yield and farmer income,
• efficiently using water resources and maintaining soil fertility,
• driving adoption of good waste management practices,
• enabling better health and safety practices and respecting human rights.

The second phase of the project (2020-2022) aims to reach more farmers and encourage more end users. Goals include

• training and certifying an additional 4,000 farmers, bringing the total to 7,000,
• increasing the involvement of women in the project,
• developing awareness among key downstream end-users – specifically by inviting stakeholders to participate in the Sustainable Castor Association (Mumbai; www.castorsuccess.org),
• continuing to improve crop yield, water conservation and basic chemical hygiene.

The partners said that in phase one of the project, approximately 5,200 hectares of castor beans have been farmed in accordance with the “Sustainable Castor Caring Environmental and Social Standards” (Success) sustainability code. Water consumption has dropped by approximately 25% in the demonstration plots, and crop yield has improved by more than 50% compared to the 2016 baseline study.