Castor bean

The castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) is an oil plant with considerable economic potential, whose main products or by-products of agricultural importance are oil and cake. The castor bean adapts to almost all types of soil, but it is recommended that it be grown on soils of medium to high natural fertility. Chosen as one of the oilseed crops to supply raw materials for biodiesel production in Brazil, castor bean is economically and socially important because it is a crop that is viable for family farming. This book arose from the collection of various studies carried out on the castor bean in order to investigate its agronomic characteristics and boost its development and production in the semi-arid region of the Northeast. In this way, this book brings relevant contributions with information that indicates the excellent potential that castor bean has to be cultivated under appropriate fertilization and irrigation conditions in order to obtain good production, providing family farmers with an additional alternative for planting on their land.