Abstract

Castor varieties were classified based on eco-geographical grouping and on certain morphological characters by previous workers. Eventhough none of the systems of classification could be compeleted in castor, in view of the free inter-crossability of the different varieties and forms of divergent origin, classifying the availabile material with a bias for breeding work, based on certain chosen morphological and economic attributes of known heritability seems to be purposeful. This is justifiable, as the large number of varieties collected from all over the world serve mainly as the fundamental material for the evolution of high yielding strains. Further the classification helps to take stock of the variability available in the germplasm with the purpose of utilising them in the breeding programme, while simultaneously trying to strengthen the gene bank with varieties of new combinations of characters from other sources. With this objective, an attempt to classify the varieties available in the germplasm at the Castor Research Station, Salem has been made and the results are presented.

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