This article has been published in partnership with Kalaari Capital.

By the time cotton is picked in Dahegaon, near Nagpur, Maharashtra, the fields are left with dry stalks and crop residue. For generations, farmers had to clear it before the next crop, often by burning it.

“Prior to using biochar, we used to burn all the feedstock produced during the harvest season in the open. That polluted the air and damaged the land for the next crop,” says Ajay Ram Krishna Ghodham, whose family has farmed here for generations.

Today, some of that waste takes a different route. Cotton residue is converted into biochar, a charcoal-like material mixed back into the soil.

The change came after Equilibrium, a carbon-removal company, began working with farmers in the region. They are trained to use a simple Kon-Tiki system to convert the residue through controlled burning, after which the biochar is collected and returned to farms.

For Ajay, the decision comes down to protecting the land his family depends on.

“As farmers, we have always been sceptical about what to use on our land because we are very close to our land,” he says. “Farming is our only source of livelihood.”

Experience is beginning to ease that caution. Farmer Surekha Namdev says biochar has improved her crop yields, soil fertility and moisture retention. Alka Chindan Vishram, who has used it for more than a year, now encourages other farmers to try it.

Crop residue that once became smoke is now returning to the soil. It raises a larger question: what does carbon removal take to work on the ground?

What carbon removal looks like on the ground

The global carbon market is projected to reach $50 billion by 2030, while more than 4,000 companies have received approval for science-based climate targets, creating demand for credible ways to reduce or remove carbon.

India is also putting its own carbon market into operation, with emissions targets already in place for 490 industrial units across seven major sectors.

Companies need climate action, investors are looking at carbon removal, and India has vast agricultural and degraded landscapes where restoration could make a difference.

The challenge begins on the ground. A farmer has to participate, the land has to support the intervention, the process has to be measured properly, the carbon removal has to last, and the economics have to work for the person contributing land and labour.

This is the carbon market’s quality gap: demand is growing, while credible, measurable projects remain difficult to build at scale.

Equilibrium is attempting to build that missing infrastructure. It currently has more than 27,000 smallholder farmers and 30,000 hectares under restoration across agroforestry, mangrove restoration, climate-smart agriculture and biochar. Its larger pipeline covers eight projects across nine states, potentially involving 120,000 hectares and 150,000 farmers.

To understand why, it helps to go back to founder Siddhanth Jayaram, who once sat on the other side of the table, deciding which companies and ideas were........

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