The government�s initiative to change the mode of the country�s irrigation system, by replacing diesel and conventional electricity run irrigation pumps with solar ones, is proceeding at a pace much slower than expected
Expanding irrigation based on solar power
According to an exclusive report published in The Independent on September 16 the governments initiative to change the mode of the countrys irrigation system, by replacing diesel and conventional electricity run irrigation pumps with solar ones, is proceeding at a pace much slower than expected. The report states that against the target of installing 1,500 solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) by 2016, only 280 pumps have been installed till now.
It is becoming increasingly challenging to provide affordable irrigation services through conventional fossil fuel based technologies, both from fiscal and environmental perspectives. According to the power and energy ministry, at present, the country has a total of about 1.66 million irrigation pumps. Of these, some 266,000 are electrically powered water pumps which consume around 1,300 MW to irrigate 1.7 million hectares of land. The rest 1.3 million are diesel-run pumps, which consume 900,000 tonnes of fuel to irrigate the additional 3.4 million hectares of land.
In order to keep the momentum in food grain production, the government provides around Tk 24-Tk 26 as subsidy per litre of diesel. Solar pumps offer a smart way out of the deadweight of subsidies. Going solar for irrigation could have massive collateral benefits from rendering diesel import on this score unnecessary to reducing costs of production for irrigation.
A solar-powered irrigation system is basically a pump running on electricity generated by photovoltaic panels or the thermal energy available from collected sunlight as opposed to diesel run water pumps. Diesel pump sets are both expensive to run and also environmentally hazardous. Solar technology for irrigation is not entirely new in its scope as it has been widely used over the years across the world. Solar pumps can help fill irrigation gaps, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and help farmers adapt to climate change impacts. Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available free of cost; its effective tapping would help farmers get inexhaustible supply of energy.
Using solar power for irrigation pumps can cut the carbon-footprint of the countrys agriculture and bolster the countrys role in the war against climate change. The fact is the use of solar energy in Bangladesh is increasing steadily. However more needs to be done. If solar irrigation pumps are widely deployed and scaled up, with appropriate financial incentives, farmers training, improved irrigation practices and groundwater monitoring, the same could become cost-effective solutions for sustainable irrigation in Bangladesh.
