Hack the Hills: Innovation to End Agricultural Residue Burning
Eight finalist teams developed practical ways to collect steep-terrain biomass and turn crop residues into resources instead of smoke.
Enable Earth joined forces with the German-Thai Agricultural Cooperation (GETHAC) for the final pitch round of the AgriSpark Hackathon — Hack the Hills! — during the AGRIFUTURE Conference & Exhibition 2025 organized by the German Agricultural Society (DLG Asia Pacific).
AGRIFUTURE is one of Asia's leading agricultural innovation events, bringing together experts, entrepreneurs, policymakers and investors to explore technologies that can drive the future of sustainable farming across the region.
Eight finalist teams brought high-energy, high-impact ideas to the stage. The hackathon connected farmers, startups, engineers and innovators around one of Thailand's most persistent agricultural challenges: open burning of crop residues on steep terrain.
Two challenges, one practical goal
Participants worked from real use cases to design solutions that could be implemented and scaled, rather than concepts that stop at the presentation stage.
The work connected biomass logistics with circularity, pollution reduction and better rural livelihoods.
- From Hill to Road focused on collecting and transporting biomass from steep, hard-to-access fields.
- Burn No More looked for viable alternatives to open burning that turn residues into useful resources.
- Circularity asked teams to keep agricultural materials in productive use instead of treating them as waste.
- Rural livelihoods kept farmer practicality and local economic value at the center of each solution.
Why steep terrain changes the problem
Residues on hillsides are dispersed and difficult to reach. Collection equipment, transport costs and road access can make conventional biomass systems impractical, leaving burning as the fastest option available to farmers.
That is why the challenge requires more than a policy message. It needs tools, logistics, business models and partnerships designed around the landscape itself.
Open burning can be avoided with the right mix of innovation, collaboration and persistence.
A year of groundwork behind the final pitch
The work began a year earlier with terrain mapping, residue-collection trials and a search for partners able to build solutions that go beyond policy alone.
Changing an entrenched system initially seemed almost impossible. Meeting GETHAC and other partners who shared the same belief created the momentum needed to bring the hackathon to life.
From ideas on stage to impact on hillsides
The final pitch was not an endpoint. It created a pipeline of ideas that can be tested, refined and connected with farmers and implementation partners.
Enable Earth and its partners will keep working to turn promising concepts into sustainable outcomes, one hillside at a time.
Have a biomass logistics or open-burning challenge that needs a practical solution? Work with Enable Earth.
