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 |
| 19 Apr | 3200 |
| 20 Apr | 3200 |
| 21 Apr | 3225 |
| 22 Apr | 3225 |
| 23 Apr | 3250 |
Castor prices reduced in spot market owing to higher arrival of the seed. However, the castor prices increased in futures owing to hope of rise in demand in the coming 
days.
About 1.10 lakh bags of castor seed arrived in Gujarat, while about 4,500 bags arrived in Saurashtra. At the Rajkot Commodity Exchange, the castor June contract increased while the castor spot market decreased.
Recent study has found the use of castor oil as antistatic and anticorrosive materials.
Antistatic property is defined as the fast dissipation of static electricity (static charge). It is evaluated using two measures – surface resistance and half-life. The lower the surface resistance (Ω), the higher the antistatic property; and the shorter the half-life (s), the higher the antistatic property.
A previous study conducted by scientists from Korea in 2004, has found that waterborne -polyurethane coating materials containing conductive polyaniline blend films showed 
reduced antistatic half-life.
Now, scientists from Korea and India have prepared castor oil-based waterborne polyurethane/polyaniline (COWPU/PAni) conducting polymer blend films. The waterborne polyurethane synthesized from isophorone diisocyanate was reacted with castor oil to form prepolymers. Also, COWPU/PAni hybrid dispersions were synthesized to make different conductive composites.
Characteristic studies showed that COWPU/PAni conducting blend films could be used as antistatic and anticorrosive coating materials.
Highlights
Scientists at the University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (UAHS), Shivamogga (Karnataka), have developed disease-resistant varieties of castor seeds.
Castor seeds are widely cultivated in dry regions of Chitradurga, Davangere and Tumakuru districts. However, the yield of castor seed has been waning owing to fusarium wilt and white fly infection.
Scientists at zonal agricultural and horticultural research station of the university at Hiriyur have developed a disease-resistant and high-yield variety of castor seed named HCH (Hybrid Castor Hiriyur)-6, which is a fusion of DPC-9 and TMV-6 varieties. If cultivated as a solo crop, the yield of HCH-6 variety is said to be around 18 quintals a hectare of land, while it was around 13-14 quintals a ha in other existing varieties.
(A quintal equals 100 Kg)
As part of the farm trial, Lakshmanappa, a farmer from Holalkere in Chitradurga district, who had cultivated HCH-6 variety of castor in his land, said that the yield had increased by around 22 per cent and the plants were free from wilt infection.P. Narayanaswamy, Director of Research, UAHS, Shivamogga, said that KPR-1 paddy and HCH-6 castor seeds would be released after getting approval from the State-level Variety Release Committee and the Central Sub-committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties. The seeds of both the varieties would be released by June, 2016, he said.
If indeed the castor seed yields could be increased to 1.8 tons/hectare, this could be a big boost to farmers, as the country’s average is hovering only about 1.3-1.4 T/hectare as mentioned earlier. And with the castor seeds seeing an overall upswing in prices in the past few years and hovering at about Rs 40/Kg (though 2015 saw slightly lower prices than 2014), such increases in yields could result in many more farmers taking up castor cultivation.
Source: The Hindu
National Green Tribunal has ordered that companies using castor plants for commercial 
purposes will have to share monetary benefits with local communities.
According to the rules manufacturers, whose turnover is upto Rs. 1 crore will have to pay 0.1% of it to Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board, while those having a turnover between Rs. 1 crore and Rs. 3 crore and a turnover above Rs. 3 crore will have to pay 0.2% and 0.5% respectively.
India’s castor oil exports are likely to increase and hit 570,000 tonnes this year due to an increasing demand from America, China and European Union. The rising demand could affect the availability in Indian market due to the shortage of output.
Castor seed for delivery is currently trading at the rate of Rs. 3690/quintal. In the spot market the seed is selling at the rate of Rs. 3565/quintal in Gujarat.
BKS, an RSS affiliated farmers’ group have urged the centre to institute a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs. 60,000/tonne for castor seeds.
The cost of cultivating castor is estimated at Rs. 6000 – 7000/quintal. In the last two months, the castor cultivation prices have dropped from Rs. 4000 to Rs. 3600/-. Such low prices export sales depress the castor seed prices and also affect the castor seed growers who are denied remunerative returns. The group has also sent a letter stating the estimates of farmers’ losses due to non-procurement of food grains and damage from rain.
Castor seed availability is expected to improve this season as the castor crop production has increased by 15%. According to the latest estimates by Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, the castor
production is likely to increase between 1.29 million tonnes and 1.38 million tonnes.
While the area under castor has been estimated at 1.03 million hectares, the yield may improve marginally to 1,254 kg/hectare. Castor yield in Gujarat is estimated to be 1,471 kg/hectare and the global castor seed output is estimated at 1.70 million tonnes.
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at NCDEX.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 27 January | 4094.85 |
| 29 January | 4050 |
| 30 January | 4105.35 |
CastorOil.in brings you the weekly report of castor seed price at NCDEX.
A steady decrease in the price of castor seed is noticed this week.
Check out the table and the graphical data.
| Price Date | Rupees Per Quintal |
| 19 January | 4493.5 |
| 20 January | 4413.6 |
| 21 January | 4274.65 |
| 22 January | 4255.15 |
| 23 January | 4197.7 |
