Every winter, thick smoke from burning crop residue blankets parts of northern India. For many farmers, stubble left behind after harvest is often seen as a burden — expensive to manage and difficult to dispose of.

But imagine if that same agricultural waste could become a source of income.

In the coming years, technologies being tested across the world could allow farmers to convert crop residue such as paddy straw, wheat stalks and maize waste into green hydrogen — a clean fuel increasingly being called the energy source of the future. Instead of burning leftover biomass, farmers could sell it or process it for energy production, creating an additional revenue stream from material that currently goes unused.

This is just one example of how green hydrogen could reshape Indian agriculture. While discussions around hydrogen often focus on heavy industries and transport, its impact may eventually be felt much closer to home — on farms, in irrigation systems, and even in the fertilisers that help grow the country's food.

What exactly is green hydrogen?

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but it rarely exists on its own. To use it as fuel, it must first be separated from other compounds.

Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity generated from renewable sources such as solar and wind power. Because the process avoids fossil fuels, it produces little to no carbon emissions.

This makes green hydrogen different from conventional hydrogen, which is typically produced using natural........

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