Two Bengaluru Friends Used AI to Turn Stubble Burning Into a Source of Income for Farmers

Every harvest left Hardik Vaghasiya with two things: produce to sell, and heaps of crop residue he had to spend time, labour and money clearing.

The 35-year-old farmer from Bardoli in Gujarat grows banana, sugarcane and maize. These crops feed markets, but they also leave behind large quantities of stalks, leaves and biomass once the produce has been collected and sold.

For years, the end of a successful crop cycle brought him back to the same problem. The harvest was over, the income had been earned, but the waste remained scattered across his fields, carrying no value of its own.

“After every crop cycle, there would be a lot of residue left behind. Sometimes it would remain unused, and sometimes farmers in the area would burn it because there was no clear value attached to it,” the farmer recalls.

A problem left behind after every harvest 

Hardik’s problem is familiar to farmers across India.

After a harvest, the crop may leave the field, but the waste often stays behind. Some of it becomes fodder or compost. Much of it lies scattered across the land, waiting to be cleared before the next crop can be sown.

For a farmer already thinking about the next season, the next rainfall and the next market price, this residue becomes one more expense. Clearing it takes time, labour and money. Burning it, for many, feels like the quickest way to move on.

But what looks like a practical choice on the farm carries a larger cost. When crop residue is burnt in the open, it adds to air pollution and releases the carbon that plants have spent months pulling from the atmosphere.

For years, Hardik saw residue the way many farmers do: as something to get rid of. He had never thought that the same stalks, leaves and biomass lying in his fields could one day hold value.

That idea is now beginning to reach farmers through the growing carbon economy. When agricultural waste is used in carefully monitored climate projects, it can be turned into biochar, a carbon-rich material that helps lock carbon into the soil. If this climate benefit is measured and verified, it can eventually be converted into carbon credits, creating a new source of value from what was once treated as waste.

For Hardik, the idea looked difficult to grasp when he first heard about it.

“I did not understand carbon credits at all in the beginning,” he says with a smile. “As farmers, we think about crops, rainfall, soil and market prices. Carbon credits were not something we discussed.”

The concept was introduced to him through Shree Radharani Agrotech, which explained how agricultural residue could be used in climate projects. If the environmental benefits could be measured and verified, carbon credits could potentially be generated and sold, creating a new source of value from material that was previously treated as waste.

What sounded unfamiliar at first slowly began to make sense.

“If farm waste can help the climate and also help farmers earn something extra, then it is worth understanding,” he says.

Building a market for climate action 

The idea behind this change started to come together hundreds of kilometres away in Bengaluru.

‘RenewCred’, the platform helping connect climate action with carbon markets, was founded by entrepreneur Abhimanyu Rathi and his decade-old friend Yogendra Panchal. The company was incorporated in May 2024 in Karnataka after Abhimanyu moved to Bengaluru through the Antler Founder Residency programme earlier that year.

At 33, he had already spent years working across climate, healthcare, water and sustainability sectors. A chemical engineering gold medallist with qualifications in environmental law and policy, he had launched his first venture while still in school, built businesses focused on sustainable technologies and later spent three years as a venture capitalist investing in early-stage startups.

Despite the growing attention around climate change, he felt there was a missing piece.

“I realised climate solutions were not failing because the science was weak,” he tells The Better India. “There were already people creating genuine environmental benefits. The bigger challenge was that there was no efficient market infrastructure. People were doing good work for the planet but had no way to monetise that impact.”

That gap became the foundation for RenewCred.

Rather than launching immediately, the founders spent nearly two years building the systems required to create trust in carbon markets. During this period, they assembled a scientific community of 93 scientists spread across six countries. Together, the group worked on developing methodologies, verification frameworks, algorithms and digital systems capable of measuring climate outcomes accurately.

“We knew credibility would be everything. If farmers, project developers and buyers are going to participate in carbon markets, everyone needs confidence that the credits represent real environmental impact,” Abhimanyu explains.

After two years of preparation, they publicly launched their services in 2026. The first projects operating within RenewCred’s ecosystem started generating carbon credits in April 2026.

One of the first areas where this work started was agricultural residue, the material farmers often struggle to clear after every harvest. 

The science behind the new income stream 

One of the key areas of focus was biochar.

The concept is surprisingly easy to grasp. Agricultural residue already contains carbon absorbed by plants from the atmosphere. If the residue is burnt openly, that carbon is released back into the air. However, if the same material is heated in a low-oxygen environment through a process called pyrolysis, it is converted into a carbon-rich substance known as biochar.

The biochar can then be applied to soil, effectively locking much of that carbon away for long periods.

“The carbon stays trapped instead of returning to the atmosphere. That climate benefit can be measured scientifically, and once it is measured properly, carbon credits can be generated,” he adds.

For farmers, however, the benefits go beyond carbon credits alone.

Biochar can improve soil structure, help soils retain moisture better and increase nutrient availability. In areas facing erratic rainfall and declining soil quality, these improvements can have meaningful benefits for productivity.

Hardik says participating in the programme has changed the way he thinks about agricultural residue.

“The biggest change is that we now see crop residue differently,” he says. “Earlier, we treated it mainly as waste. Now we understand that it can have value if it is used properly.”

How a carbon credit is tracked

The journey from a farmer’s field to a carbon credit involves multiple stakeholders working together.

For a farmer, the journey does not begin with carbon credits or technology. It begins with a simple question: what can be done with the residue left behind after a harvest?

That is where project developers or aggregators come in. These are organisations that work directly with farmers and help bring them into climate projects. They identify farmers who have suitable agricultural residue, explain how the programme works, and collect basic details about their farms, crops and available biomass.

Once a project is proposed, RenewCred studies whether it can actually create a measurable climate benefit. The team looks at the type of crop residue being used, the technology involved, the location of the project and the expected impact.

They also establish what is called a baseline. In simple terms, this means asking: what would have happened to the residue if the project did not exist? In a biochar project, for instance, the answer could be open burning or disposal of agricultural waste.

If the project qualifies, farmers are formally onboarded. More details are then collected from the ground, including the source of the biomass, the volume of crop residue available and the way farm operations are carried out. This helps the team understand what is actually happening in the field, instead of relying on broad estimates.

The next step is Digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification, or DMRV. In biochar projects, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors are used to track important details during the pyrolysis process, such as feedstock weight, temperature and pressure conditions.

This means the project does not depend only on paperwork or occasional reports. Data is recorded through connected devices as the work happens, making the process easier to track and harder to manipulate.

The information is then processed through a three-layer artificial intelligence and machine learning framework. The first layer checks whether the data is complete and reliable, flagging missing values, unusual readings or inconsistencies. The second layer applies emissions calculations and project methodologies to estimate the climate impact being created. The third layer looks for patterns that may point to errors, manipulation or other anomalies.

Before any credits are issued, an independent third-party verifier reviews the project and validates the findings. This is an important step because it helps ensure that the environmental benefits being reported are genuine and scientifically defensible.

Once all checks are complete, the carbon credits are issued and recorded on a blockchain-enabled registry. In simple terms, blockchain creates a permanent and transparent digital record of every credit issued, transferred or retired. This makes it difficult to alter information later and helps prevent the same credit from being counted twice.

“The carbon market has suffered from trust issues for years, and the only way to address that is through transparency, evidence-based science and continuous monitoring,” he says.

Behind this process is RenewCred’s scientific community of 93 experts. The network supports methodology development, peer reviews and validation frameworks, combining human expertise with technology to strengthen the integrity of every credit generated.

“It is a combination of human expertise and technology,” the founder adds. “Neither one works as competently without the other.”

Turning waste into income

Today, the company is beginning to see the results of that work.

RenewCred currently has 22 projects in its broader pipeline, with seven projects progressing through various stages of carbon credit registration and issuance. Three projects have already started issuing credits.

Many operate in climate-sensitive sectors where environmental impact can be measured properly. Alongside biochar initiatives, projects are underway in electric mobility, solar energy, compressed biogas, livestock methane reduction and clean cooking solutions.

Among the organisations working within the ecosystem are Arka Carbon in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, JEET Agrotech in Gujarat, Konwert Motors in Tamil Nadu and Bartronics India Limited in Hyderabad.

The company expects projects within its ecosystem to generate approximately 100,000 carbon credits during the current financial year. Since each credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, that translates into 100,000 tonnes of emissions either reduced or prevented from entering the atmosphere.

The expected impact extends beyond environmental outcomes.

RenewCred estimates participating farmers could eventually earn between Rs 30,000 and Rs 45,000 in additional annual income through successful projects. Across its current portfolio, the company directly engages between 200 and 220 farmers while creating benefits for nearly 300 people, including women and members of marginalised communities involved in operating project infrastructure.

Building such projects requires investment. Smaller artisanal biochar systems can be established for around Rs 5 lakh, while larger industrial facilities using advanced pyrolysis technology can cost up to Rs 5 crore. Additional costs include biomass collection, transportation, storage, labour and monitoring systems.

However, Abhimanyu believes scale will make carbon markets increasingly accessible.

“As projects become larger, monitoring becomes cheaper, documentation becomes more efficient, and buyers become more confident,” he says.

Why farmers belong at the centre

Looking ahead, he believes farmers will play a far bigger role in India’s climate economy.

“Farmers should not be treated as passive beneficiaries,” he continues. “They should become climate warriors. Whether it is biochar, regenerative agriculture, agroforestry or better water management, they should be leading these solutions.”

For Hardik, the improvement is already visible.

A few years ago, crop residue represented a challenge that needed to be cleared from the field. Today, it represents possibility.

“The biggest change is in the way we think. If something that was once considered waste can help the environment while also creating an additional source of income for farmers, then it is an opportunity worth exploring,” he says.

As India looks for ways to tackle climate change without leaving farmers behind, the answer may be sitting in plain sight — in the piles of crop residue that are often burned, dumped or ignored after harvest. 

What was once treated as waste could become a new source of income, a climate solution and a reminder that sometimes the biggest opportunities are hidden in the things we stop noticing. For millions of farmers, that shift could mean the difference between simply getting through a season and earning from every part of it. 

All pictures courtesy RenewCred.

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com