38 SCIENCE NEWS | May 7, 2022 & May 21, 2022
M. SHAIKSHAVALITHE FUTURE OF FOOD | CLIMATE-FRIENDLY FARMING IN INDIA
they can pump groundwater in a climate-friendly way that also
provides incentives for keeping some water in the ground. “If
you pump less, then you can sell the surplus energy to the grid,”
he says. Solar power becomes an income source.
Growing rice, especially lowland rice, which is grown on
flooded land, requires a lot of water. On average it takes about
1,432 liters of water to produce one kilogram of rice, according
to the International Rice Research Institute. The organization
says that irrigated rice receives an estimated 34 to 43 percent
of the world’s total irrigation water. India is the largest extrac-
tor of groundwater in the world, accounting for 25 percent of
global extraction. When diesel pumps do the extracting, carbon
is emitted into the atmosphere. Parmar and his fellow farmers
used to have to buy that fuel to keep their pumps going.
“We used to spend 25,000 rupees [about $330] a year for run-
ning our diesel-powered water pumps. This used to really cut
into our profits,” Parmar says. When IWMI asked him in 2015 to
participate in a pilot solar-powered irrigation project with zero
carbon emissions, Parmar was all ears.
Since then, Parmar and six fellow farmers in Dhundi have sold
more than 240,000 kilowatt-hours to the state and earned more
than 1.5 million rupees ($20,000). Parmar’s annual income has
doubled from 100,000–150,000 rupees on average to 200,000–
250,000 rupees.
The boost is helping him educate his children, one of whom is
pursuing a degree in agriculture — an encouraging sign in a coun-
try where farming is out of vogue with the younger generation.
As Parmar says, “Solar power is timely, less polluting and also
provides us an additional income. What is not to like about it?”
Parmar has learned to maintain and fix the panels and the
pumps himself. Neighboring villages now ask for his help when
they want to set up solar-powered pumps or need pump repairs.
“I am happy that others are also following our lead. Honestly, I
feel quite proud that they call me to help them with their solar
pump systems.”
IWMI’s project in Dhundi has been so successful that the
state of Gujarat started replicating the scheme in 2018 for all
interested farmers under an initiative called Suryashakti Kisan
Yojana, which translates to solar power project for farmers. And
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy now subsidizes
and provides low-interest loans for solar-powered irrigation
among farmers.
“The main thing about climate-smart agriculture is that
everything we do has to have less carbon footprint,” says
Aditi Mukherji, Verma’s colleague and an author of February’s
report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(SN: 3/26/22, p. 7). “That is the biggest challenge. How do you
make something with a low carbon footprint, without having
a negative impact on income and productivity?” Mukherji is
the regional project leader for Solar Irrigation for Agricultural
Resilience in South Asia, an IWMI project looking at various solar
irrigation solutions in South Asia.
Back in Anantapur, “there is also a visible change in the veg-
etation in our district,” Reddy says. “Earlier, there might not be
any trees till the eye can see in many parts of the district. Now
there is no place which doesn’t have at least 20 trees in your line
of sight. It’s a small change, but extremely significant for our
dry region.” And Ramesh and other farmers now enjoy a stable,
sustainable income from farming.
“When I was growing groundnuts, I used to sell it to the local
markets,” Ramesh says. He now sells directly to city dwellers
through WhatsApp groups. And one of India’s largest online gro-
cery stores, bigbasket.com, and others have started purchasing
directly from him to meet a growing demand for organic and
“clean” fruits and vegetables.
“I’m confident now that my children too can take up farming
and make a good living if they want to,” Ramesh says. “I didn’t
feel the same way before discovering these nonchemical farm-
ing practices.”Explore more
Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience in South Asia:
solar.iwmi.orgSibi Arasu is an independent journalist based in Bengaluru,
India. He tweets @sibi123.Farmers in Anantapur, India, pose with the natural fertilizer they use on
their crops. Called Ghanajeevamritam, it contains jaggery, cow dung, cow
urine and sometimes flour from dried beans.