Por Oliver Griffin
SÃO PAULO, Apr 24 (Reuters) – Israeli company Casterra wants to work with Brazilian farmers to grow castor beans for use in biofuels, targeting a planted area of 200,000 hectares over the next five years, said CEO and chairman Ofer Haviv.
Brazil is a powerhouse in biofuel production, where vast plantations of soybeans and sugar cane — among other raw materials — fuel its biodiesel and ethanol sectors, respectively.
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However, Brazilian castor bean production remains small compared to other commodities.
According to Conab, castor beans are expected to cover only 76,200 hectares in the 2025/26 harvest, compared to soybeans’ 48.5 million hectares.
Casterra, owned by Israeli biotechnology company Evogene, last month carried out successful commercial field trials for castor bean cultivation in the State of Bahia, with plantations covering 74 hectares.
“We would like to find large farmers who will start growing castor beans on a commercial scale and we are now also talking to local players who will buy the beans from the farmers,” Haviv said in an interview this week.
ONE MILLION HECTARES
In the next ten years, the area used for castor bean cultivation could reach 1 million hectares, Haviv said.
The goal is for farmers to grow castor beans during Brazil’s second harvest, known as safrinha, he added.
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Since it’s too late to plant castor beans this year, Casterra hopes to generate interest in the off-season in 2027 and plans to spend 2026 encouraging farmers to grow the crop.
Casterra plans to invest about $5 million to $10 million to build strong marketing and agronomic support teams, as well as a seed production facility, he said.
The company is also researching ways to improve crop quality and harvestability, Haviv added, saying Casterra has teamed up with an Italian company to improve combine performance and limit grain loss.
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‘The second arm of activity is improving the seed, improving the growth protocol and improving the performance of the machinery,’ he said.
