How You Can Earn Shs20m From An Acre Of Castor Seeds With Minimal Investment

Castor seed oil plant popularly known as Ensogasoga is something most Ugandans see but don’t know its value. Traditionally, many locals deemed the seeds of this useful plant poisonous. The plant was restricted to lighting purposes. That’s why they would tie these seeds in papyrus or rigs and light them as a source of fire.                          The abundant crop in Uganda was also carried to Egypt thousands of years ago through River Nile. The culture was also similar and very prevalent in Egypt, especially among the Egyptians, when they would go to the pyramids and use castor seeds as a source of fire.

Caster seeds have oil which ignites the fire.

It was not until the Jamaicans discovered the way of roasting these seeds to remove the poisonous compound through a process known as ricin, which had beaten our forefathers. They thought that the poison is within the seed yet it was only in the outer cover. So the the Jamaicans started roasting it and after that they could press it to form oil and that oil was known as the Jamaican Black Castor. Given the fact that  Jamaica has many Rastafarians with dreadlocks, they were breaking, so castor oil was used to oil the dreadlocks to stop them from breaking.

This same principle of detoxifying the seeds spread even to this country, the same way soybeans are roasted to remove the anti-nutritional factor known as Trypsin inhibitor. Castor seeds are roasted to remove the chemical and the Castor oil can be edible.

Getting Started

Julius Nyanzi, the CEO at Prof Bioresearch, says four tins of castor seeds can cover an acre. Each tin is sold at Shs10,000, meaning one will spend about Shs40,000 on an acre.  He says seeds are soaked in milk overnight. This improves on the germination process. A natural anti-fungicide trichoderma is added to prevent the seeds from rotting in the soil.

Castor is planted at a spacing of four meters by four meters, meaning that an acre will accommodate 400 trees.     The crop takes a lot of space with many branches. Castor tree takes 6 months to start producing seeds. Each tree can produce 10kgs of seeds. This means a farmer can get about 4,000 kilograms from an acre.

A kilogram of castor seeds is at Shs5,000, meaning that a farmer can earn as high as Shs20m from an acre. Castor is an annual crop, meaning that one has to plant a new crop in another season.

Uses of Castor oil

Castor oil treats fibroids. Fibroids are becoming common because of today’s lifestyle. Many people are eating a lot of processed foods, meat and other chemicals which trigger off inflammation inside the bodies. Castor oil is a powerful anti inflammatory oil which can shoot the swelling cells or the fibroids.

Castor oil is also a remedy for Constipation.Today, because of the common starchy diet, people get constipated a lot. But when you drink a teaspoon of Castor oil, it helps you to improve the digestion. So basically it treats indigestion.

For people who want to lose weight, Castor oil is good at increasing body metabolism, eventually burning fat.

For  women it is a good remedy for dandruff. They normally apply it in hair to treat dandruff and fungal because Castor oil has compounds like ricinoleic acid, which helps with dandruff.

Castor oil is also a scar remedy. Most people today have big scars which keep on swelling over and over  because of inflammation. So Castor oil is smeared on the scar, and after that one applies the water bottle similar to the one used by expectant mothers.

Castor oil treats cracked hills known as “Enkyaakya” in Luganda. You smear on the cracked feet and then you put on stockings.

Castor oil also promotes the growth of eyelids, especially among women. It can be used for eyelid growth and also hair growth.

Custom oil helps women who are about to deliver, not to experience labour pains. It activates what we call EP3 presternoid receptors, which reduce pain during birth. A woman who’s about to deliver can drink a teaspoon to ease delivery.

It is  a good immune booster. It boosts  immunity, one can drink it to improve CD4 count in the body. Research has shown that Castor oil has vitamin E and also stearic and oleic acids which improves body immunity.

Castor oil is also a good remedy for cataract. One can drop 5 drops in both eyes if they are sick or one and it dissolves those proteins which bring about cataract without any side effects.

Castor oil is a natural dewormer, it can be used to in human beings, animals and birds. In humans, they take a tea spoon of castor oil in hot water,where as in birds you use a tea spoon in a 20 litre jerican.

It is also used as a remedy for breast lamps/breast cysts. You smear around the affected area, then put a water bottle which dissolves the oil inside.

It is also used to make shoe polish when mixed with color.

Castor oil is a carrier oil for perfumes since it fixes them from evaporation.

Being a thickening oil,  it is used in enlarging sexual reproductive parts without any side effects.

It is also used as a drought resistant additive in plants. You add one table spoon into a 20ltr jerrican of water which shields the plants from direct UV light rays which is responsible for drying up the crops during dry seasons.Castor oil is a good skin sun screen when applied on the body.

For more information,  contact Prof Bioresearch via Tel:  0702 061652 / 0779 519652, Email: profbioresearch@gmail.com 

Money Grows on Trees Series by Omukenkufu Nyanzi Julius