World's first sustainable castor farming project in India gets commitment for phase 2

After completing a 2016 baseline survey of more than 1,000 castor farmers in Gujarat, India, the Pragati project was launched in May 2016 with the goal of enabling sustainable castor crop production

• More than 13,000 tons of certified castor beans have been cultivated
• More than 3,000 castor farmers have been audited and certified
• Approximately 5,200 hectares of castor beans have been farmed in accordance with the castor sustainability code - now called SuCCESS (Sustainable Castor Caring Environmental & Social Standards)
• More than 8,000 hours of classroom training have been completed
• More than 3,000 safety kits and crop protection product storage boxes have been distributed
• Water consumption has dropped by approximately 25% in the demo plots
• Crop yield has improved by more than 50% compared to the 2016 baseline study

• Training and certifying an additional 4,000 farmers, thus bringing the total to 7,000
• Increasing involvement of women in the program
• Developing the awareness and involvement among key downstream end-users – specifically by inviting stakeholders to actively participate in the Sustainable Castor Association
• Continuing to improve crop yield, water conservation and basic chemical hygiene

• 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