SEA has launched a pilot project in Gujarat to help farmers increase the productivity of castor seeds to 2,000 kg per hectare from the current average yield of 1,200-1,400 kg a hectare.
The model farm would be supervised by the agriculture scientists and progressive farmers. The beneficial results will motivate many farmers to replicate good practices demonstrated at the model farm and achieve higher yield.
Earth Gen-BioFuel has planned to promote the use of castor bean oil in the manufacture of biodiesel. It has planned to sponsor two international castor bean industry symposiums. The first symposium will be in the United States and the second is planned for 
Southeast Asia.
EarthGen plans to expand its own castor bean farming beyond its Laos operation to develop and diversify its growing locations and harvesting dates. In addition to working with the Singapore based consulting group Gionesis, the company has been working with farm operations in Vietnam, Cambodia, Peru and Mexico.
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at Bombay Commodities Exchange.
Check out the table and the graphical data
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 06 Jun | 3155 |
| 07 Jun | – |
| 08 Jun | 3160 |
| 09 Jun | 3150 |
| 10 Jun | 3140 |
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Sebacic acid size was estimated over 100 kilo tons in 2014 and is likely to exceed 130 kilo tons by 2023. Polyamide application witnessed the highest sebacic 
acid market consumption in 2014 and is likely to gain steady rates over the forecast period.
Shift in trend towards manufacturing biobased polymers from renewable sources is a key driver for the growth of sebacic acid market. Sebacic acid is used in wide applications such as cosmetics, plasticizers, biopolyamides production etc.
Jamaica has undertaken a study on the local castor oil industry as the country moves to take advantage of a global market expected to value an estimated US$1.81 
billion by 2020.
The study was commissioned by the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) and examined recommendations for development and steps to capitalise on the Jamaica Black Castor Oil value chain.
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Castor oil and derivatives market has been growing at a good pace over the past few years on account of growing demand for bio-degradable products.
Recent market study has shown that increasing application scope of castor oil and derivatives in major end-use industries including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics & personal care, plastics & resins is expected to drive the castor oil market in future.
Shift in focus towards castor oil and derivatives due to stringent regulation from government boards such as EPA and PNGRB is also likely to create opportunity for market players.
Recent research shows production of jet fuel from ricinoleic acid methyl ester.
Experiments conducted earlier have shown the possibility of producing jet fuel from 
castor oil or hydro processing castor oil.
Now scientists from China have found that jet fuel could be produced from castor oil derived ricinoleic acid methyl ester. A unique hydroxyl group in the ricinoleic acid chain induced a special thermal rearrangement reaction in medium chain fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and heptanal formation. This reaction was used as a starting point for the production of jet fuel.
Results showed that the carbon selectivity in the castor oil to jet fuel process was as high as 90%.
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at Bombay Commodities Exchange.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
The closing price in the last week was Rs. 3200. This week, there was a decrease in the price of castor seed till the end. In general, the prices of castor seed had reduced this week, compared to last week.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 23 May | 3200 |
| 24 May | 3175 |
| 25 May | 3165 |
| 26 May | 3150 |
| 27 May | 3150 |
Researchers from Finland have found a method to produce novel castor oil segmented thermoplastic polyurethanes which have controlled mechanical properties.
Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is an elastomer that is fully thermoplastic. Like all thermoplastic elastomers, TPU is elastic and melt-processable. TPU is a linear segmented block copolymer composed of hard and soft segments. The hard segment can be either aromatic or aliphatic. The soft segment can either be a polyether or polyester type, depending on the application.
The new study shows that it is possible to produce thermoplastic polyurethanes using castor oil via polyaddition approach where the formation of prepolymers needs to be carried out with the addition of small amount of castor oil and excess of diisocyanate in the very first step. This is followed by the addition of the other polyols and finally a low molecular weight chain extender.
Results showed that the synthesized polyurethanes exhibited good biocompatibility and high transparency.