Set to begin in February 2026, the project between Better Cotton and Planboo is intended to measure and monetise environmental improvements and study the feasibility of large-scale adoption in the sector.

The announcement for this project follows a partnership that the two parties announced in September this year.

BCI Impact director Lars van Doremalen said: “Since announcing our partnership with Planboo in September, we have been working to identify the locations and partners required to test this promising solution.”

The project will see at least 75 farmers convert agricultural waste from January’s cotton harvest into biochar, a material similar to charcoal that can enhance soil quality and sequester carbon in the soil for more than 100 years.

Work will take place in the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, where three kilns are set to process 375 tonnes (t) of farm waste to produce 60-70t of biochar.

Farmers will receive training in February 2026 on using the kilns to generate biochar, offering an alternative to the widespread practice of burning crop residues.

“Biochar holds the potential to unlock huge greenhouse gas emission reductions and carbon removals while fortifying farming communities against the effects of climate change,” Lars van Doremalen added.

During the pilot project, Planboo’s digital Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRVin) system will monitor each step from biochar production to calculation of carbon removals.

The software tracks waste inputs, volumes of biochar created, and related carbon metrics, providing verifiable data which can establish new revenue streams for farming communities through carbon reductions and removals.

The trial will finish in 2026 with BCI distributing its findings to members. Researchers will assess biochar’s impact on crop yield, water retention, local emissions reductions, and overall carbon removal.

BCI and Planboo plan to use insights from this project to evaluate whether similar methods could be expanded further across the industry by demonstrating benefits at both environmental and economic levels.

Planboo founder Freddie Catlow said: “Cotton farmers are sitting on an unrealised asset, their crop residues, currently going up in smoke. With Planboo’s MRVin technology, farmers can learn, burn and earn by turning their waste into biochar. This durable, accredited form of carbon removal builds resilience into soils, supporting farmers, the foundation of the cotton textile industry.”