Open burning of agricultural residues remains a significant source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia. This study evaluated a community-scale smokeless vertical charcoal kiln for biochar production from corncob residues under practical operating conditions. Carbonization at 415–435 °C for 150–180 min produced biochar yields of 23.3–28.3%, with the 150 min treatment giving the highest yield. The biochar exhibited high carbon content (71–71.5%), low volatile matter (15.7–16.7%), fixed carbon content of 51–54%, and moderately alkaline pH (8.97–9.08). Atomic H/C and O/C ratios (approximately 0.55 and 0.27) indicated moderate aromaticity and stability consistent with IBI Class 1 criteria, while SEM revealed a macropore-dominated porous structure. Theoretical carbon sequestration potential was estimated at 0.69–0.74 tCO₂-eq per tonne of dry feedstock. These findings demonstrate the technical feasibility of community-scale smokeless biochar production and provide physicochemical characterization of the resulting biochar, suggesting potential relevance for carbon storage and soil amendment; however, agronomic performance and emissions require direct evaluation, and results are specific to corncob feedstock. Overall, this work contributes to sustainable agricultural waste management by demonstrating a low-cost, community-accessible pathway that simultaneously supports climate change mitigation, air quality improvement, and socio-economic accessibility for smallholder farming systems in Southeast Asia.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is widely recognized as one of nature’s most beneficial plants. Makapuno, a special type of coconut with a soft, jelly-like endosperm, is a high-value commercial coconut and an expensive delicacy with a high cost of planting material. The embryo rescue technique is a very useful tool to support mass propagation of makapuno coconut. Nevertheless, transplanting the seedlings is a challenge due to poor root development, which results in the inability of the plant to acclimatize. In this study, primary root excision was used in makapuno to observe the effects of primary root excision on lateral root development. The overall results showed that seedlings with roots excised had a significantly higher number of lateral roots, and shoot length also increased significantly. Using de novo transcriptome assembly and differential gene expression analysis, we identified 512 differentially expressed genes in the excised and intact root samples. ERF071, encoding an ethylene-responsive transcription factor, was identified as a highly expressed gene in excised roots compared to intact roots, and was considered a candidate gene associated with lateral root formation induced by root excision in makapuno coconut. This study provides insight into the mechanism and candidate genes involved in the development of lateral roots in coconut, which may be useful for the future breeding and mass propagation of makapuno coconut through tissue culture.