by Pius Maundu (Nation Media Group) Castor beans are the raw material for jet fuel; Its production nosedived over the years due to the vagaries of climate change and lack of a steady market — As a little girl growing up in the 1970s, Phyllis Nduva saw her neighbours make a fortune by growing and selling castor beans.
“We grew up hearing that castor beans are the raw material for jet fuel. Only a handful of farmers took the cash crop seriously,” she would recall decades later.
In her adulthood, the prominent farmer at Mwaani Village in Makueni County and the chairperson of Makueni Fruits Processors Cooperative Society is glad to know that indeed castor beans produce environmentally friendly fuel for powering jets, trucks and heavy machinery.
Ms Nduva is among thousands of smallholder farmers in the country who are involved in an ambitious campaign to reduce global warming through cultivating castor beans, which go into manufacturing fuel.
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According to Makueni Agriculture executive Joyce Mutua, at least 25, 000 farmers in the region have embraced castor beans after Italian energy behemoth Eni teamed up with the devolved unit to promote the crop a year ago.
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Although its production nosedived over the years due to the vagaries of climate change and lack of a steady market, the head of Kalro Katumani research station in Machakos County, Mr Orondo K’Oloo, says Makueni County still presents suitable environmental conditions for production of castor beans. This is understood to be the main reason Eni picked the county to pilot its renewable energy model hailed as bankable.
Eni Kenya managing director Enrico Tavolini says the Italian energy company has cumulatively enlisted 42, 970 castor beans out growers so far in Baringo, Embu, Kilifi, Kitui, Kwale, Nakuru, Lamu, Taita Taveta, Tana River and Makueni counties as it rolls out an ambitious plan to significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide associated with fossil fuels.
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Known scientifically as Ricinus communis, castor is a drought-resistant oil crop. Castor oil plants thrive in deep, moderately fertile soil which is well-drained. According to Dr K’Oloo, castor needs at least 50 mm of rainfall per crop cycle. In its campaign, Eni helps farmers till their plots, provides them with seeds, and guarantees the purchase of all the produce.
A team of agronomists led by Dr K’Oloo trains farmers on managing the cash crop. A spot-check by Healthy Nation in the castor bean plots around Wote Town showed that a majority of the farmers have intercropped castor with maize, pigeon peas, beans and citrus fruits.
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The crop remains productive up to three years. The capsules are dried in the sun for around three days before threshing.
According to scientists at Kalro, an acre of castor seeds can yield up to 500 kilos of beans per year depending on the agronomical practices and the weather conditions. Dr K’Oloo says a plan is afoot to introduce high yielding castor varieties which are billed to yield up to 2,000 kilos of beans per year. After collecting a significant amount of castor beans, farmers deliver them at Eni’s giant vegetable oil processing factory at Kwakathoka area on the fringes of Wote Town.
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Eni also squeezes oil from cotton seeds and croton nuts at the Kwakathoka vegetable oil factory. It has struck a deal with Kitui and Makueni cotton ginneries to off take all cotton seeds. However, according to scientists at Kalro, castor beans remain the king of oilseeds.
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The factory, according to Mr Odhiambo, is able to produce 15,000 tonnes of vegetable oil per year. This is shipped to Italy where it is refined into bio diesel technically known as hydrotreated vegetable oil and bio jet known as sustainable aviation fuel which are sold in the company’s global market. READ MORE