I mean the planet features such as cataract, which gives +3 to manufacturing on current tile, and +1 to research on adjacent tiles. 

You can mod  mod it so a planet gets production points, which may be better for you.

For example I created a planetary system which is dying (some man made disaster and they have destroyed their planets), but their planets were once very rich in resources.

So I created a planet type called "Dying World", which is a class 8 or under (usually its like a 5 down to a 2) but it gets a bonus to production because a few of the planets cities have survived.

You add this as a ExtremeTypeModifier, Modifier, EffectType, ProductionPoints and define that in your PlanetTraitList defs xml file.

So you can create a homeworld for your race, which gets this production bonus. But it is also likely you will find other planets with it as well.

Here is xml snipet for my world.

If you need some help, you can email me your files and I'll take a look at them for you.

@DE,

For a race you have to define your home solar system. Normally you logically just pick one of the existing solar systems, but you can define your own.

For example lets call your race Xenos and they live around the new star called Xeno on the planet Xeno I. 

Lets create a trait called "Xeno World".

I have uploaded my mod to my website, where you can pull it down and then edit it as needed.

GlobalSedition Mod

So steps, though another modder may explain it better.

1. In StarDefs.xml (define a new star) with a name "Xeno", you can copy the ArtDefine from existing planets.
2. Define your planet trait "Xeno World" in PlanetTraitDefs.xml. Give it an ExtremeTypeModifier for ProductionPoints and a value (whatever you want the value to be).
3. Define your home planet (in PlanetDefx.xml) and name it "Xeno I".
4. Give your Home Planet the planet trait you define above "Xeno World". Give the planet you want a class (1-50?).
5. Save and play.

You can save my mod above and then edit the files. Also you can create as many planets in your home System as you want, you could have 10 Class 30 planets surrounded by asteroids. It's really how you want to play.  Note: You probably don't want all the files from my mod since you already have your own faction , but if you haven't defined your own race (in XML) then you will need the Faction files.

In my mod I gave myself 3 planets all dying, classes 9, 5, 2, but you can do what you want.

Hope this helps, if you have any questions, please ask.