Today, the FAO Statistics Division released a new Statistics Working Paper titled "AI4Biochar: applying AI-driven field boundary recognition to the biochar sector". The work is the result of a collaboration between experts at the Statistics Division, the Office of Climate and Biodiversity and the Land and Water Division at FAO, the University of Twente in the Netherlands and national experts in Viet Nam. It was developed with funding by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Japan and by the FAO Elevate Innovation Programme.

Agricultural residues in Viet Nam, a major agricultural producer, are abundant yet underutilized. Converting these residues into biochar offers a sustainable alternative to the widespread burning practices, which release greenhouse gases and air pollutants. The use of biochar as soil amendment could enhance soil structure while being a powerful carbon sequestrator.

Despite its potential, the biochar sector faces challenges due to limited access to detailed data, including geospatial, for cost–benefit analyses and for optimal placement of biochar production unit networks.

To help bridge these gaps, this new working paper introduces AI4Biochar, an AI-driven tool that automatically delineates crop field boundaries, integrates production data and sustainability indicators, and streamlines biochar production, resource management, environmental impact assessment, and market development within a geospatial framework.

The paper presents the methodological approach used in the development of AI4Biochar and the results from a use-case application of the tool in a rice-producing district of Viet Nam.