BASF and its partners released the sixth year results of the world's first sustainable castor seed project "Pragati"- Taizhou Huangyan Aoxu Mould Technology Co., Ltd.

BASF and its partners released the sixth year results of the world's first sustainable castor seed project "Pragati"

03-04-2023

BASF and its partners released the sixth year results of the world's first sustainable castor seed project "Pragati"
BASF and its partners released the latest results of the sustainable castor seed "Pragati" project. Pragati is the world's first sustainable castor seed project launched by BASF, Arkema, Jayant Agro Organics and the implementing partner Solidaridad in May 2016.

Over the past six years, the project has achieved impressive results:

More than 6200 planters have been trained, audited and certified

Certified sustainable castor seed production exceeding 50000 tons

Compared with the comparable output of the region in the sixth year released by the local government, the output increased by 22%

The existing land of more than 6000 hectares is regularly cultivated according to the sustainable castor cultivation standard "SuCCESS" (sustainable castor in line with environmental and social guidelines) - the accumulated area of more than 19,000 hectares; As castor can provide a stable source of income, Pragati growers are expanding the land area dedicated to castor cultivation.

About 6300 personal safety care kits and crop protection products will be distributed free of charge

In the demonstration plot for monitoring water use, the water consumption decreased by about 30%

Castor bean growers from more than 80 villages in the north of Gujarat have participated in the project

In 2021, more than 260 separate trainings will be held with growers

After successful implementation in previous years, Pragati members promised to further commit themselves to the world's first sustainable castor project.

According to SuCCESS standard, all workers must carry out regular medical monitoring, attach great importance to improving personal safety and chemical health, and encourage growers to use renewable energy as much as possible.

BASF provides safety kits for growers, including disposable respirators, safety glasses, gloves and easy to understand picture descriptions, indicating where, when and how to use each type of personal protective equipment, and how to safely handle chemicals.

In addition, the SuCCESS standard encourages all certified growers to ensure that their school-age children actively attend school.

Project starting point

The project was carried out in Gujarat, India, the main source of global supply of castor crops, and more than 1000 castor growers were surveyed on the baseline. The initial baseline study found that growers believed that planting castor could provide higher economic income and profits, and castor was easy to plant and sell.