Location: Central Thailand (KTIS supply chain)
Crop: Sugarcane
Focus: Corporate supply-chain insetting, biochar adoption, nitrogen fertilizer reduction, biomass circularity
Role: Flagship corporate collaboration for insetting at scale
🟢 On-going research & implementation 🟡 Early-stage CDR project under assessment for certification with Puro.earth

🗺️ https://maps.app.goo.gl/dPWQw5btv6Wmd2Sk7

📍 Project Overview

Happy Ground and KTIS have partnered to pioneer a scalable model for supply-chain-wide decarbonization in the sugarcane sector. With more than 10,000 farmers cultivating over 400,000 rai(64,000 hecatares), KTIS represents one of the most powerful platforms for agricultural climate action in Thailand.

This project focuses on turning 30,000 tonnes of sugarcane leaf biomass, previously burned or wasted, into high-quality biochar — while embedding the results into a traceable, verifiable insetting system that meets corporate climate commitments.

🌱 Environmental and Agricultural Benefits

• Burning Prevention: Avoids open-field burning of sugarcane leaves

• Fertilizer Efficiency: Tests optimized nitrogen reduction through biochar-enhanced application

• Soil Health: Measures long-term impacts on pH, SOC, and root structure

• Carbon Removal: Tracks and models high-permanence biochar CDR

• Farmer Value: Builds a framework for farmer incentives and circular business models

🔬 Technology and Methodology

• Biomass Source: Sugarcane leaves post-harvest

• Carbon Mechanism: Scope 3 insetting — tracked and modeled through the Happy Ground platform

• Platform Tools: Satellite mapping, soil data calibration, plot-level fertilizer and biochar logs

• Verification Status: In progress — aligned with Carbon Standards International (CSI)

• Data System: Integrated into KTIS's sustainability reporting, including potential Article 6 alignment

📈 What’s Next

Each year, starting in December–January, our teams will conduct 3 field trials focused on validating the optimal approach for fertilizer reduction, yield impact, and long-term soil health.

But this research goes beyond agronomic outcomes. Our goal is to identify the economic gap — the difference between what’s agronomically recommended and what farmers can realistically afford to implement on their own. By understanding this “sweet spot,” we can co-design targeted financing mechanisms that make regenerative practices like biochar adoption truly accessible.

This is how we move from short-term trials to long-term transitions — building the support systems needed for widespread, sustainable adoption across tens of thousands of smallholder farmers in the KTIS supply chain.

🌍 SDG Alignment 🇺🇳

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger – Improves profitability and productivity in industrial crop systems

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being – Reduces air pollution through burning prevention

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Creates new income streams and regenerative jobs

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure – Links field-level climate action with national MRV innovation

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – Transforms agri-waste into a regenerative input

• SDG 13: Climate Action – Delivers scalable, measurable insetting in corporate supply chains

• SDG 15: Life on Land – Supports soil health and biodiversity in sugarcane monoculture systems

• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals – Brings together corporates, farmers, scientists, and technologists