The Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India and the Sustainable Castor Association have decided to follow single sustainability code—‘SuCCESS’ code—for castor supply chain.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed during SEA-Global Castor Conference 2023 in Ahmedabad recently. The aim of MoU is to bring together the two organisations in the evolution of more sustainable farming and supply management for castor crop.
BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, said India produces around 19-20 lakh tonne of castor seeds per annum and meets more than 90 per cent of the demand for castor oil thereby enjoying dominant position in the world castor scenario.
Also read: India’s castor output seen 15% higher at 19.46 lakh tonnes for 2022-23
India’s exports of castor oil and derivatives are estimated above ₹13,000 crore ($1.6 billion) per annum. The global castor derivatives market, which is estimated to be over $4 billion, is highly dependent on India, he said.
SUCCESS custodian
The Sustainable Castor Association was formed in 2019, three years after the first comprehensive baseline study of more than 1,000 castor farmers in western India, home to more than 80 per cent of the world’s current castor crop supply. It consists of 23 members of different 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, which is a sustainable castor farming code, and developed the SuCCESS supply chain code to ensure the handling of certified sustainable castor products throughout the supply chain. More than 6,000 farmers have been trained and certified against the SuCCESS code so far.
He said the SEA castor seed and oil promotion council has been running the castor improvement programme for the last seven years in India delivering more than 50 per cent of enhancement to make castor farming sustainable.
Quoting Sanjay Sailas, General Manager of the Sustainable Castor Association, a statement said: “We are excited to embrace this growth opportunity and to drive greater global adoption of the SuCCESS code and to reach a broader audience of farmers, processors, downstream users, and industry stakeholders.”
Mehta said: “Our extensive network from the castor community will greatly enrich the growing membership of the Sustainable castor Association, and we are please to offer our expertise and guidance during this growth phase.”
