Six castor bean varieties of the dwarf type, five from the USA and one from Brazil, were compared at four localities of the State of São Paulo (Campinas, Jahú, Ribeirão Prêto, and Pindorama), covering different soil and climatic conditions. The variety IA-38 (Dwarf 38), the most planted in the State of São Paulo, ranked first in production. The highest yields were obtained on sandy soils. Soils of the mixed red type also gave good yields, but soils of the red and massapê types, which were already rather exhausted by cropping, gave poor yields.