Solar irrigation becomes blessing for farmers

Solar-run irrigation pumps have become a blessing for many farmers in northern region amid inadequate rain, frequent power cuts and increased diesel price as the Aman cultivation season has kicked off.

Agriculturalists, experts and farmers have opined that draught-like situation and soaring fuel prices can be faced by expanding the usage of solar-based irrigation pump in the region.

Badarganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Golam Mostafa Mohammad Jobaidur Rhaman said a total of 112 solar-driven pumps have been set up by two private organisations in the upazila.

Farmers of the upazila have become benefitted by the arrangement to transplant their Aman paddy amid a lengthy draught-like situation spending a little amount of money.

Manager at Solargaon Ltd Taifur Rhaman said, “We have been working in Badarganj and Mithapukur upazilas in Rangpur for the last seven years.”

Solargaon Ltd had set up 72 solar-driven irrigation pumps in the different unions of the upazila with the financial assistance of Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) to facilitate irrigation at cheap prices.

Ruhul Amin, branch manager of Gaji Renewable Energy Company Limited, said that their company had installed 45 solar-powered pumps in Badargonj and Mithapukur upazilas of the district in 2017.

During a recent visit at Lohani union under Badarganj upazila, this correspondent found a number of farmers who have started Aman farming. Despite the shortage of rainfall in the season, they are continuing their transplantation uninterruptedly using solar-driven pumps.

Professor Mohammad Ashraful Islam, from Department of Agricultural Extension Education of Sylhet Agriculture University, thinks that there solar irrigation system has a huge potential in Bangladesh. “Expansion of solar-based irrigation will reduce dependency on diesel and electricity significantly in the country. A solar–run pump usually covers an equal area of land covered by a diesel–run pump,” he said.

According to the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority, there are some 2,716 solar irrigation pumps in Bangladesh, with an installed capacity of around 50.45 megawatt-peaks (MWp).

Additional Director, DAE Rangpur region, Md Shah Alam said the irrigation costs of per unit could be significantly reduced if the solar–run irrigation pump project is undertaken across the country.

He said it requires one time investment primarily to install the panel. Farmers can set up the solar panel on cooperative management. DAE can also provide technical support and help the farmers from its solar panel project to implement the programme.

Farmers in Rangpur region have been gripped in distress for their failure to grow the Aman paddy during the peak season due to insufficient rainfall, unprecedented price hike of diesel and frequent power cuts.

They have faced difficulties to transplant the Aman lands resorting to supplementary irrigation as they are likely to spend Tk 1000 more for per bigha cultivation.

Amid this backdrop, many of the farmers transplanted Aman seedlings at affordable costs in some few areas of the northern districts that have access to solar-driven irrigation system.

The solar-supported irrigation pumps have helped the farmers to complete the transplantation without being affected by frequent power cuts or using costly diesel-run pumps.

A drought-like situation has been prevailing in the region since early July, hampering the Aman cultivation. Rangpur meteorological office recorded rainfall of only 299 mm during the last two months (Ashar-Shrabon), while it requires at least 427 mm for the Aman plantation.

According to a report of World Bank, agriculture has a significant role in Bangladesh’s economy and the sector employs 45 per cent of the country’s workforce.  Water supply in the croplands is the lifeline for farmers as the crop quality and yield can be damaged without proper irrigation.

Majority of the country’s farmers depend on expensive diesel or electricity-run irrigation pumps. There are 1.35 million diesel-run pumps and 270,000 electricity-run pumps used for irrigation in the country. Every year, diesel pumps consume 1 million tonnes of diesel worth around $1000 million which is very costly.

Abdur Rhaman, 50, a farmer of Lohanipara village in Rangpur, said, “We have completed the transplantation of Aman seedlings without any hassle in this season. A solar-driven pump can irrigate around 100 bighas of land easily.”

Sajib Miah, 45, another farmer of the village, said that the cost for irrigating the lands with the solar-run pump is reasonable. A farmer needs to pay about Tk 2000 to irrigate one bigha land in a season while the diesel-run pump costs around Tk 5000.

Mizanur Rahman, a solar irrigation pump operator in the village, said he has been running solar pumps for the last five years, supporting around 100 farmers.

He usually charges Tk 4,000 to Tk 4,500 to irrigate each acre of land for each season. The cost will be around Tk 9000 if it is irrigated by diesel-run pump, he added.

Mamunur Rashid, senior agriculture & environment coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh, said, “Aman cultivation usually depends on seasonal rainfall. Saplings are planted on the lands in the rain water during the month of Ashar and Sharabon. But lesser rainfall compelled the farmers to go for delayed plantation using supplementary irrigation that cost around Tk 200 crore in the northern districts. “

He said the land and atmosphere of the country is very convenient to use solar pumps as the ground water level is not far from the surface. Electricity is the key to economic growth and development for a country. To reduce the burden on the national grid, we need to develop solar energy to run the pump for smooth irrigation without using any fuel and affecting the environment.

Solar pump contributes to improve farmers’ livelihoods, increase climate change resilience of the agriculture sector and strengthen food security. Smooth supply of water in the crop lands will increase the productivity, he added.

He also urged the government to replace all diesel-run pumps with solar pumps as there is immense potential of the solar irrigation.

Officials of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said, a target of producing about 18.08 lakh tonnes of clean Aman rice (about 27.12 lakh tonnes of paddy) from over 6.15 lakh hectares of land has been fixed from five northern districts of Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha.