Castor (Ricinus communis L.) A neglected crop in Africa with Export potential.

Abstract

The castor-oil plant is an industrial crop which features prominently in international trade. Although the crop grows wild and seeds profusely in the tropics, production in Africa is very low. Experiments were conducted in two seasons to study the effects of applying 0, 33, and 66kg/ha NPK, each at three spacing of 1 x 03m, 1 x 0.6m, and 1 x 0.9m on growth and yield of two wild growing varieties - Red stemmed and Green stemmed varieties. Fertilizer application did not increase yield in the Red variety nor in the Green variety, doubling the amount of fertilizer from 33 to 66kg/ha NPK depressed yield. Oil content of the seed was 52.1% and 38.2% in the Green and Red varieties respectively and oil yield was not affected by fertilizer application especially in the Red variety. The 1 x 0.6m spacing was optimum for both varieties

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) A neglected crop in Africa with Export potential.