GCH 8
From SDAU Gujarat, released 2018 — the current recommended upgrade wherever wilt has been building in continuously-cropped castor fields, with roughly 48% seed oil content and stable performance across both rainfed and irrigated management.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Castor
- Type
- Hybrid
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 150–170 days
- Seed rate
- General castor-hybrid field guidance suggests around 10–12 kg/ha — not confirmed as GCH 8-specific
- Expected yield
- 19 q/ha rainfed; 36 q/ha irrigated
- Suitable soil
- Sandy / light soil
- Release
- Released 2018 · SDAU, Sardarkrushinagar, Gujarat — reported cross JP-96 (pistillate line) × DCS-89 (male line), tested 2006-07 to 2015-16
About this variety
GCH 8 (SHB 896) is a wilt-resistant castor hybrid developed at Sardarkrushinagar (Gujarat) by SDAU, with a reported cross of pistillate line JP-96 and male line DCS-89, tested for nine years — one year of station trial, five years of state trial, and three years of AICRP trial — before release in 2018. In multi-location testing it out-yielded established check hybrids DCH 177, DCH 519 and GCH 7 by roughly 13–17%, with a weighted-mean seed yield of about 18.95 q/ha rainfed and 35.88 q/ha irrigated and oil content around 48.3–48.6% — closely matching this record's own 19/36 q/ha and roughly 48% oil figures. The hybrid is described as having profuse branching, tolerance to lodging, and resistance to seed shattering, alongside resistance to wilt and tolerance to root rot.
Key characteristics
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeKharif sowing, generally the first fortnight of July in Gujarat, per general castor cultivation guidance
- Seed rateGeneral castor-hybrid field guidance suggests around 10–12 kg/ha — not confirmed as GCH 8-specific
- SpacingGeneral castor-hybrid field guidance suggests row spacing of roughly 90–120 cm with 40–60 cm between plants — not confirmed as GCH 8-specific
- IrrigationFor irrigated castor generally, guidance suggests watering roughly twice a week, adjusted for soil, weather and crop stage
- FertilizerGeneral castor guidance suggests around 40:40:20 kg N:P:K/ha — full P and K plus half the N applied at sowing, remaining N about a month later — not confirmed as GCH 8-specific
- HarvestingWeighted-mean seed yield reported at about 18.95 q/ha rainfed and 35.88 q/ha irrigated — roughly 13–17% higher than check hybrids DCH 177, DCH 519 and GCH 7 across the trial; oil yield reported around 9.15 q/ha rainfed and 16.37 q/ha irrigated
Soil & climate
Soil
- Suitable soil
- Deep, moderately fertile, well-drained sandy loam — matching this record's own sandy soil field
- pH
- Slightly acidic to neutral, roughly pH 5.0–8.5 with an optimum around 6.0, per general castor cultivation guidance
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
150–170 days
Expected yield
19 q/ha rainfed; 36 q/ha irrigated
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
Pest & disease considerations
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Yielded roughly 13–17% higher than established check hybrids (DCH 177, DCH 519, GCH 7) across a nine-year, multi-location AICRP trial
- Wide adaptability — performed consistently well under both rainfed and irrigated management
- Profuse branching with tolerance to lodging and resistance to seed shattering, alongside wilt resistance and root rot tolerance
Things to consider
- Seed rate, spacing, sowing window, fertilizer and irrigation figures above are general commercial castor-hybrid cultivation guidance, not figures confirmed specific to GCH 8 — no fetchable primary gave GCH-8-specific agronomic recommendations beyond the yield-trial paper
- The exact wording of GCH 8's parentage cross was not directly readable in the fetched release paper itself — it rests on corroborating WebSearch summaries of the same paper rather than a directly-quoted sentence
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Gujarat
Frequently asked questions
How much higher-yielding is GCH 8 than older castor hybrids?
Its release-trial paper reports roughly 13–17% higher seed yield than established check hybrids DCH 177, DCH 519 and GCH 7, consistent under both rainfed and irrigated conditions — a weighted-mean yield of about 18.95 q/ha rainfed and 35.88 q/ha irrigated, closely matching this record's own 19/36 q/ha figures.
Sourced from: A high yielding and wilt resistant castor (Ricinus communis) hybrid for India — Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences (ICAR ePubs), SDAU Varieties — Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Castor Cultivation Information Guide — Agri Farming. editorial policy.