Turning crop waste into climate solutions: India’s billion-tonne opportunity

Picture this: For every tonne of rice or wheat grain harvested in India, at least two tonnes of crop-waste is left behind. Beyond farms, factories and forests produce significant crop-waste. Up to 90 per cent of bamboo and 50 per cent of wood is wasted in manufacturing, along with residues from coffee, tea, beer and oil production. Even our forests contribute, with dried pine needles and lantana creating tinderboxes for devastating wildfires.

India generates over a billion metric tonne of crop waste annually.

A significant portion of this is either burned in the open or left to rot, releasing massive quantities of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The scale is staggering: if all this waste were burned, it would generate five times the emissions from automotives in India. Yet this same waste, if properly utilised, could potentially reduce half of India’s total carbon emissions.

From waste to wealth: The untapped potential

What we currently treat as agricultural waste is actually a strategic asset that could transform our climate response, energise rural economies, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and forest resources.

The opportunities fall into two clear pathways:

Energy recovery: Converting crop residue into biofuels that substitute petroleum for vehicles, or biogas that replaces coal in factories. This directly cuts carbon-intensive fossil fuel consumption while putting waste to productive use.

Alternative materials: Innovators are creating biochar, bioplastics and biocomposites from crop waste, enabling us to lock carbon into functional use cases such as improving soil health, packaging, consumer products and construction.

These aren’t distant possibilities. New technologies are already demonstrating the use of crop residue at scale, laying the groundwork for a circular bioeconomy.

Why progress remains slow: Five critical barriers

Five interconnected challenges explain why:

1. The collection challenge: India’s fragmented agricultural landscape, with millions of smallholder farms spread across discontinuous land, makes collection expensive and inefficient. Seasonal availability compounds the problem, making it difficult to sustain year-round supply chains.

2. Higher conversion costs: Converting crop waste into useful alternatives often costs more than using conventional fossil or forest resources. Lower economies of scale, additional processing requirements, and lower yields (rice husk has just 10 per cent of petroleum’s calorific value) all contribute to higher costs.

3. Limited market demand: Without strong demand for crop-waste products, the entire value chain struggles. Consumers lack awareness, businesses worry about quality and consistency, and without cost parity, switching from established solutions remains unappealing.

4. No incentive at the source: Farmers, factories, and forest managers receive little to no financial benefit from selling crop waste. Compared to the immediate convenience of burning, the effort of harvesting and selling residue simply isn’t worth it. While mechanised tools could help, their cost and complexity make them difficult.

5. Unintended consequences: Even well-intentioned processing can create new problems. Chemical bleaching may contaminate water streams. Excessive water and energy use in conversion can negate environmental benefits. These concerns fuel perceptions that the bioeconomy isn’t truly sustainable or scalable.

Building the circular bioeconomy

Scaling India’s success with crop-waste requires a comprehensive, ecosystem-wide approach that addresses both supply and demand simultaneously.

Creating demand: Build awareness among consumers and businesses. Provide incentives and quality guarantees to buyers who currently view crop-waste products as unnecessary, expensive or inferior. Show them verified environmental and economic benefits.

Streamlining supply: Establish village-level aggregation stations with balers and compactors to reduce transportation costs. Create decentralised processing centers that serve as reliable nodes between farms and end-users. Ensure consistent availability and quality over time.

Investing in innovation: Only through continuous innovation can we reduce conversion costs, improve product quality, and build consumer confidence. Support research programs, climate-tech accelerators, and pilot projects that prove new concepts at scale.

Financing transition: Financial support is needed across the entire value chain – from awareness campaigns to research funding, infrastructure investment to marketing initiatives. Carbon financing offers a powerful tool, allowing farmers to monetise avoided emissions from not burning residue and increased carbon sequestration from biochar and composting.

Aligning policy: Connect residue availability with national priorities like ethanol blending targets, SATAT biogas goals, and emerging carbon markets. Empower Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) to aggregate supply. Provide subsidies, incentives and tax-benefits for solutions that encourage use of crop-waste. Create predictable demand that gives farmers and businesses confidence to invest.

Forging industry partnerships: Long-term purchase contracts between farmer groups and bio-fuel plants, biochar producers, and green product companies provide stability on both sides. This reverse supply chain model transforms fragmented markets into balanced, mutually beneficial relationships.

Bridging research and commerce: Strengthen connections between research institutes and industry. Too often in India, promising lab research never reaches commercial scale due to weak industry-academia partnerships. Deliberate collaboration mechanisms can change this.

Beyond climate: The multiplier effect

The benefits of closing the loop on crop waste extend far beyond carbon reduction.

Public health: Eliminating open burning dramatically improves air quality, particularly in northern India where toxic particulate matter poses severe health risks to millions.

Soil regeneration: Biochar and compost make agricultural systems more resilient to climate variability, improving yields and long-term productivity.

Rural employment: A thriving crop residue bioeconomy creates jobs throughout collection, processing, and manufacturing, increasing rural incomes and reducing migration pressure to overcrowded cities.

Energy security: Residue-based renewable fuels diversify India’s energy mix and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Export potential: As global markets for sustainable materials and clean energy grow, India can position itself as a leader in bio-based industries, creating new export opportunities in green innovation.

The path forward

India’s billion-ton crop residue challenge is actually a billion-tonne opportunity. What we once saw as agricultural waste is emerging as a cornerstone of climate strategy and rural development.

The solution requires coordination across policy, investment, innovation, and partnerships. It demands financial incentives that make sustainable residue management economically viable. It needs infrastructure that makes collection and processing efficient at scale.

Most importantly, it requires a fundamental shift in mindset – from viewing crop residue as a disposal problem to recognizing it as a valuable resource.

The challenge is significant, but so is the prize: a cleaner environment, healthier communities, revitalised soils, and a more sustainable agricultural economy. This isn’t just a climate imperative; it’s a national opportunity waiting to be seized.

The author is Founder & CEO of MYNUSCo  

Published on December 20, 2025