The Crisis
18.9 million tonnes. Burned. Every year.
crop waste subject to open burning annually
PM2.5 exceeded during peak burning season
deaths per year attributed to air pollution, Chiang Mai province
estimated annual cost to government, Chiang Mai alone
Sources: IQAir 2024, MDPI Atmospheres 2024, Thai Department of Agricultural Extension 2024. Mortality figures are modelled estimates based on air quality exposure data, not direct cause-of-death records. Economic figures require further primary source verification.
Every burning season -- January to April -- farmers across Thailand set fire to their crop waste. Rice straw, sugarcane leaves, corn husks. Millions of tonnes, burned in open fields because there is no infrastructure to collect it and no economic incentive to stop.
The smoke blankets northern Thailand. PM2.5 reaches 13 to 27 times the World Health Organisation's safe limit. Chiang Mai -- one of the most visited cities in Southeast Asia -- regularly ranks among the worst air quality in the world during these months.
The farmers are not the villains.
Open burning is illegal in Thailand. Farmers burn anyway. Not because they do not care -- because they cannot afford the alternative.
The vast majority of Thai rice farmers carry significant debt. The average rice farmer's straw residue after harvesting is 4,250 kg per hectare. Hiring a baler costs approximately 2,000 THB (about £45) -- money many farmers do not have. The post-harvest window before the next growing cycle is tight. Fire is free and fast.
There is no infrastructure to collect crop waste at scale. No buyer waiting at the farm gate. No economic incentive that makes keeping the waste more rational than burning it.
That is the gap Bhumi exists to fill.
“Only 9.29% of Thai farmers currently sell their crop residue. The market barely exists. That is both the problem and the opportunity.”
The waste is the material.
The crop waste that farmers burn is the same fibrous material used to make biodegradable packaging. Sugarcane bagasse. Wheat straw. Rice husks. These are not experimental materials -- pulp moulding from agricultural fibre is a proven, commercial technology. Sugarcane fibre packaging biodegrades within 30 to 90 days.
The sustainable packaging market is valued at $303 billion, with the compostable segment growing at 12% CAGR. EU regulations (PPWR) and the UK Plastic Packaging Tax are creating compliance deadlines that brands cannot ignore. The demand for alternatives to single-use plastic is structural, not trend-driven.
Meanwhile, the raw material is being destroyed every burning season.
Bhumi's model connects these two problems into one supply chain: pay farmers for their crop waste (eliminating the economic incentive to burn), convert that waste into biodegradable packaging (replacing single-use plastic), and sell the packaging to brands that need it.
Two problems. One solution. No charity required.
The alignment has never been better.
Thailand's Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economic Model is the government's flagship sustainability framework. It explicitly targets converting agricultural waste into high-value products including bioplastics, fibres, and packaging.
The Thai Board of Investment (BOI) offers up to 13 years of corporate income tax exemption for projects that convert agricultural waste into products. 100% foreign ownership is permitted. The policy infrastructure is designed to support exactly what Bhumi intends to build.
Thailand produces enough crop waste to sustain large-scale bio-packaging production. The technology is proven. The government incentives exist. The market demand is growing. The missing piece is the collection infrastructure that makes it economically rational for farmers to stop burning.
We are building the evidence base first.
Most companies launch products and then tell a story about why they matter. We are doing it the other way around.
Before we ask you to buy anything, we want to earn your trust by publishing genuinely useful, independently sourced research. We want to become the most credible voice in the crop burning and bio-packaging space -- so that when products do launch, they arrive in a context of trust, not marketing.
This is Phase 1. Everything on this site is free. We are not selling. We are proving.
The content platform IS the first product. If we can build an audience of people who demand evidence, we will have the foundation for a business that delivers it.
What you can do right now.
01
Read.
Start with our research. The Complete Guide to Southeast Asia's Burning Season is the most comprehensive English-language resource on the topic. Every claim sourced.
Read the guide →02
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Share.
If this matters to you, share it with someone who would want to know. The crop burning crisis is underreported in English-language media. Awareness is a starting point.