A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was recently signed at the SEA-Global Castor Conference 2023 in Ahmedabad. The goal of the MoU is to bring the two organizations together in the evolution of more sustainable farming and supply management for the castor crop.
According to BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, India produces around 19-20 lakh tonne of castor seeds per year and meets more than 90% of the demand for castor oil, giving it a dominant position in the global castor scenario.
Castor oil and derivatives exports from India are estimated to be worth more than Rs 13,000 crore ($1.6 billion) per year. According to him, the global castor derivatives market, which is estimated to be worth more than $4 billion, is heavily reliant on India.
The Sustainable Castor Association was established in 2019, three years after the first comprehensive baseline study of over 1,000 castor farmers in western India, which accounts for more than 80% of the world's current castor crop supply. It is made up of 23 members from various stages of the international castor value chain (producers of castor oil and derivatives, traders and end users).
It became the custodian of the SuCCESS farming code, a sustainable castor farming code, and created the SuCCESS supply chain code to guarantee the correct handling of certified sustainable castor products throughout the supply chain. So far, over 6,000 farmers have been trained and certified in accordance with the SuCCESS code.
He said the SEA castor seed and oil promotion council has been running the castor improvement programme for the last 7 years in India delivering more than 50 per cent of enhancement to make castor farming sustainable.
"We are excited to embrace this potential growth and to start driving greater global adoption of the SuCCESS code and to reach a broader audience of farmers, processors, downstream users, and industry stakeholders," said Sanjay Sailas, General Manager of the Sustainable Castor Association, in a statement.
"Our extensive castor community network will tremendously enrich the growing membership of the Sustainable Castor Association, and we are pleased to offer our expertise and guidance during this growth phase," Mehta said.
