Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

We will approach for a solution of attempting a solution to

give the Marginalized farmers better access to groundwater irrigation:
Sustainable approaches and options for India. We see this as a firm step
to our father of the nation’s vision of independent and self sustainable
villages. This is a vision contributing to “Gram Swaraj”.

In the 1930s, public tube-well programs played the useful

role of introducing these technologies when farmers resisted using it.
Today, the situation is quite different. But public tube-well programs
have failed to reinvent themselves and address the needs of the current
market and society they serve. Small-scale, farmer-managed tube wells
and decentralized pump irrigation markets have made public tube wells
largely irrelevant. It is no surprise, then, that governments in most
economically dynamic states, such as Gujarat, have begun turning over
government tube wells to farmer groups in a hurry.

Rural India’s poverty can be reduced by putting pumps in

the hands of the small farmer. But the sheer numbers of people are such
that a market push is needed to speed the process of transforming their
region’s vast groundwater irrigation potential into wealth and welfare for
its poor population. Central and State government pump subsidy and
loan programs were created to speed the process. But they are mired in
bureaucratic procedure and compromised by political brinkmanship and
rent seeking. The end result is that these initially well-intentioned efforts
have failed to produce an impact.

The bright spot in this story is the successful programs of

Uttar Pradesh (UP) and north Bihar. Here much of the practical
organization of the pump subsidy and loan programs has been released
from the stranglehold of the local bureaucracy. The private pump dealer
plays a central coordinating role.

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

Motivated by the prospect of profits from the growing pump

market, private dealers have proliferated in towns of eastern UP. Intense
competition has induced these businesses to deliver small farmers a
range of rapid and useful services that were never previously offered.

To get the farmers’ business, these pump dealers do the paper work and
legwork, get the clearances and approvals needed. They organize bank
loans, arrange the issuing of pipes, pumps and the drilling of boreholes—
all in an unusually short time as compared with a centrally coordinated
approach. The average delivery time for a working pump set under the
government’s Free Boring Scheme in eastern UP is one-to-two weeks. In
other States, dealers extract a heavy ‘service charge’ from farmers for
providing these services. But the intense competition in the UP region
has reduced dealer margins to 7–10% from 15–18% elsewhere.

The government’s role is to support this market-oriented approach by

encouraging the creation of these types of public-private partnerships.
The government’s key role is to set market rules that allow suppliers to
deliver fast service and pump equipment adapted to local farmers’ needs.

The central lesson is that energy solutions are to be given to a farmer

with low resource settings and a drive has to be initiated involving
technology firms to facilitate faster and cheaper dissemination of
technology and subsidy.

1A “block” consists roughly of 150-250 villages; and it is a basic

geographic unit between a village and a district. The groundwater
administration classifies blocks fewer than three categories based on the
extent of groundwater development. Blocks where groundwater draft is
less than 65% of the available resources are categorized as “white;” those
with 65%–85% development are classified as “gray;” and those with more
than 85% development are classified as “dark.” While new groundwater
development is strongly discouraged in dark areas it is encouraged in
“white” areas.

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers: A strategy for direct

impact to improved irrigation capacity in India

The paper has reviews and analysis of factors that have influenced the success and
failure of groundwater development schemes in India. Based on these observations, few
points are recommended for policy action:

Discontinue government minor irrigation programs and focus on

private tube wells as the primary mode for bringing groundwater
irrigation to poor communities. Special Promotional Schemes for
farmers and farmer groups trying to set up power generation with
renewable energy solutions.

Improve electricity supply for agriculture by reintroducing combined

solutions for different areas like Wind in hilly areas to wind and solar
combination to solar and diesel pump sets in Northern India.

Promote the modification of pump sets to improve the energy

efficiency of groundwater pumping, reduce pollution and lower the
sale price of water to poor users. Wind in coastal and hilly regions
with use of Solar in all India can bring lot of changes in the way
pumping is done.

Introduce special Integrated Solar powered irrigation technologies

for vegetable growers and marginal farmers. Horticulture may be one
of the major area that can use even the area of land and better
outputs.

Remove other Electricity subsidies and promote renewable energy as

sole attraction of rural housing and facilities such as Panchayat
Bhawans, Anganwadies, Schools, Sub-Health Centers Etc.

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

1. Special Promotional Schemes for farmers and

farmer groups The critical challenge of overall agrarian growth—
in India is to increase the pump density to 25–40 pumps/100
hectares of net sown area. This requires programs whose primary
goal is to put the pump into the hands of the poor.
But rather than attacking this problem directly, we continue to subsidize
electricity in various political manifestoes and keep promising the
electricity that doesn’t exist.

One example is a study of government-managed lift irrigation schemes in

Orissa. It reveals that these schemes irrigate an average of 18.2 acres
and collect irrigation fees of Rs3,550. At a total cost of
Rs200,000/hectare to build, the economics of this approach seems
destined to be perpetually unviable.

Need of the hour is to repackage the whole system and make it

dependable on something whose management is in hand of user. The
farmer who will produce his own electricity will regulate its judicious use
and a common sharing of extra energy in villages will also bring new
horizons to “GRAM SWARAJ”

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

2. Improve electricity supply for agriculture by reintroducing

combined solutions
The critical relationship between rural electricity supply and the
development of India’s agricultural economy needs to be recognized.
There are several determining factors. First, electricity is cheaper than
diesel. Second, electric pump engines are cleaner. And third, as
electrification has grounded routes in villages also, it makes good sense
to promote electric power for the india’s agricultural development.

High tariffs on electricity for agricultural use in eastern India have

motivated millions of smallholder farmers, since the 1980s, to switch
from electric pumps to the cheaper diesel-powered groundwater pumps.
This is clear policy failure to address important need of production and
primary producer.

The new investments needed to improve and extend power supply in

rural areas—and ultimately attract the diesel pump users to switch back
to electricity—are unlikely to come about without exploring radically new
ways of GENERATING power. Current research and thinking offer little
insight into how this can best be achieved. A solution advocated by this
paper is to offer VARIOUS combinations of Energy Such as wind, SOLAR
and combination of PCM for diesel Gensets.

The central issue then is the reduced metering and collection costs by
drastically reducing the number of power supply points that the State
Electricity Board directly monitors and bills. Several options exist:

• A more distant alternative is inviting Gram Panchayats (Village

Councils) to undertake the distribution of power within the village
and collect electricity dues by offering an attractive commission on
the fees collected. This should not be difficult as the State
Electricity Board’s (SEB) own transaction costs of metered power
supply may be as high as 45–50% of overall operating costs
including transmission and distribution losses. Efficient
Panchayats can then transform electricity retailing into an income-
generating proposition. SOLAR and WIND will be their contribution
to the GRIDS or STAND alone plants for their usage.

• Yet another alternative is to work with private power- distribution

contractors—who will be charged based on consumption recorded
in a central SEB meter and who can sell power to individual retail
users. Local Level Small Contractors can be facilitated by SEB’s.

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

3. Promote the modification of pump sets to improve the

energy efficiency of groundwater pumping, reduce pollution and
lower the sale price of water to poor users
Some 30–35% of the energy actually used by irrigation pumping can be
saved by modifying pump sets. Against the maximum achievable
efficiency of 54% for electric pump sets and 20% for diesel pump sets,
observed efficiencies are sometimes as low as 13% and 5%, respectively.
There are two common reasons: the subsidized flat electricity tariff; and
farmers’ lack of knowledge of how to select the right pump for the job, to
operate and maintain it.

S.M. Patel, an agricultural engineer based in Ahmedabad, has pioneered

thousands of pump rectification experiments throughout India. His work
shows that simply replacing a pump’s foot valve and suction pipe
increases the water output of diesel pumps by 30%. But full-scale pump
rectification—involving appropriately matched foot-valve, suction pipe,
delivery pipe, pump and engine—can increase the discharge of a diesel
pump by 85% and cut diesel consumption/hour by 17%.

Some Netherlands-supported experiments in north Bengal registered

significant gains in energy efficiency by removing the restrictor and
attaching a ‘thermo-syphon’ cooling system, reducing the engine speed
and removing the check valve (or foot-valve in case of dug wells). Tests
showed that this type of rectification can cut diesel consumption by half

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

and improve discharge improved by more than 15%. What’s more, while
the full rectification program recommended by S.M. Patel may cost nearly
Rs8,000 for diesel pumps, the modifications piloted in the north Bengal
project cost all of Rs350.

Many agencies have promoted programs for pump rectification, with

mixed results. One important reason for this is that farmers are unable
to meet the exacting conditions of maintenance, repair and access to
spare parts that are required to achieve high fuel efficiency.

The reasons to persist with the pump rectification programs are

compelling. Existing programs are driven primarily by the goal of energy
efficiency, but pollution reduction is a relevant secondary benefit.
Owners of SLOAR operated pumps are more competitive, as they can
charge a lower price for water they sell to poor farmers, as pumps use
less electricity per hour of operation.

Looking at a potential real-life situation in a local water market, a group

of owners of SLOAR operated pumps enjoys a powerful competitive
advantage over owners of Traditional equipment. The former will provide
water to local buyers at a doubly reduced cost-per-unit of water. This
situation will generate market pressure to encourage the other diesel
pump owners to move SLOAR to remain competitive.

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

4. Introduce special Integrated Solar powered irrigation

technologies for vegetable growers and marginal farmers
Different types of water sources—canal and river water, deep wells, and
shallow dug wells—require different types of pumps to irrigate most
optimally. But the current Indian pump market does not provide the
entire spectrum of pumps required for all farmers’ pumping needs.

Shallow tube wells and dug wells in the Ganga basin cannot use all the
power of a 5-horsepower (hp) engine because the suction head is very low
and because, at full revolutions per minute, it uses only some 2–2.5 hp.
The Indian pump industry has not effectively promoted anything smaller
than a 5-hp diesel engine to drive an irrigation pump.

Only two manufacturers—Greves Cotton and Sriram Honda offer a 1.98-

hp diesel/kerosene pump, which is popular in parts of the Chhotanagpur
plateau. It is difficult to find pumps of this size elsewhere in the region.
The key reason, it seems, is that the small pumps neither offer a
significant price advantage compared to the 5-hp pumps nor are
particularly fuel-efficient, as are some of the small Chinese pumps used
in Bangladesh.

If the barriers on the import of SLOAR POWERED pumps of less than 5-hp
are lifted, or industry is promoted to produce it; small farmers—especially
those on the Indian side of the Ganga basin—would probably have taken
to them in large numbers, as have the Bangladeshi farmers.

5. Remove other Electricity subsidies and promote renewable energy as

sole attraction of rural housing and facilities such as Panchayat Bhawans,
Anganwadies, Schools, Sub-Health Centers Etc
Research that lies behind this Briefing and a number of
related studies suggest that removing the pump subsidy altogether is the
best way to deliver pumps to poor communities faster. These studies
show that pump prices in India would fall by 30-40% if pump subsidies
are removed and free import of Chinese pumps is allowed. In Pakistan,
which meets both these conditions, pumps are sold for 35-40% less than
in India.

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

Source of lighting
No. State / UT Electricity Kerosene
Solar Other Any No
energy oil other lighting
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 India 107,209,054 83,127,739 522,561 184,424 305,308 614,849

2 Andaman & 56,097 15,860 338 201 130 436

Nicobar Islands
3 Andhra Pradesh 11,317,766 5,414,683 37,704 19,512 10,858 49,334
4 Arunachal 116,275 66,779 481 1,582 9,853 17,645
5 Assam 1,229,126 3,685,787 10,082 2,104 3,461 4,798
6 Bihar 1,433,477 12,488,08540,700 7,648 6,973 5,707
7 Chandigarh 195,362 5,678 204 61 146 427
8 Chhattisgarh 2,202,987 1,908,190 6,804 3,705 11,004 15,828
9 Dadra & Nagar H 37,813 5,686 63 5 59 347
10 Daman & Diu 33,573 610 6 8 31 114
11 Delhi 2,371,811 158,476 2,365 1,369 13,785 6,343
12 Goa 261,273 15,968 476 97 260 1,142
13 Gujarat 7,754,307 1,745,351 23,115 14,511 24,052 82,653
14 Haryana 2,926,038 571,700 6,874 5,921 5,618 13,491
15 Himachal Prad 1,176,338 56,671 1,423 1,405 2,076 2,720
16 J&K 1,250,738 229,49310,309 2,086 52,005 7,137
17 Jharkhand 1,181,628 3,660,073 10,333 4,961 2,695 2,900
18 Karnataka 8,037,052 2,126,345 21,989 5,187 7,047 34,513
19 Kerala 4,632,722 1,918,660 33,291 3,965 4,358 2,210
20 Lakshadweep 9,213 18 2 0 6 1
21 Madhya Pradesh 7,641,993 3,224,055 15,130 8,715 9,638 20,122
22 Maharashtra 14,772,090 4,103,826 24,654 31,619 40,180 90,780
23 Manipur 238,733 151,219 918 184 3,009 3,593
24 Meghalaya 179,597 234,716 1,114 991 914 2,914
25 Mizoram 112,079 46,141 849 154 1,020 723
26 Nagaland 211,194 105,066 648 511 5,485 9,146
27 Orissa 2,118,195 5,674,090 27,208 4,680 9,976 35,978
28 Pondicherry 183,217 24,663 338 44 99 294
29 Punjab 3,920,301 287,174 5,643 4,667 9,410 37,961
30 Rajasthan 5,109,018 4,122,172 31,584 19,443 12,720 47,357
31 Sikkim 81,444 22,610 149 55 111 369
32 Tamil Nadu 11,081,424 2,987,630 34,614 5,161 10,523 54,274
33 Tripura 277,015 380,747 1,268 248 1,366 1,379
34 Uttar Pradesh 8,216,439 17,370,59193,047 23,745 22,996 33,783
35 Uttaranchal 956,995 591,09029,726 1,049 2,709 4,752
36 West Bengal 5,885,724 9,727,836 49,112 8,830 20,735 23,678
Source: Census of India 2001
Note: India figures exclude Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul sub-divisions of Senapati
district of Manipur.

Dr Rajan Dubey
 Bringing Solar Powered Irrigation pumps to Farmers

Dr Rajan Dubey