Spread the word on solar pumping ! Supporting farmers in Bihar to adopt clean technologies to improve agricultural outputs

                                                                                                                by Franziska Kohler

Water is running through irrigation channels to the fields where vegetables, maize, mustard, wheat and other crops of Vaishali farmers are being cultivated. The water is supplied by Vaishali Area Small Farmer Association (VASFA) – which has been supporting irrigation groups since over 40 years, providing more than 700 farmers with water from their diesel powered pumping systems in exchange for a monthly membership fee and an additional amount paid for water on an hourly basis. Recently, however, the usual loud pounding of the diesel pump has fallen silent.

The GIZ initial study titled “Solar Water Pumping For Irrigation” highlighted that low awareness about the technology among farmers and financial institutions, who can play significant role in the development of market for solar water pump by providing consumer finance, is a major challenge. Renewable Energy Component of the Indo German Energy Programme (IGEN-RE) of Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH hired the service of Claro Energy a private company providing off-grid solar solutions, to replace two diesel pumps with solar powered ones.  At these demonstration sites, diesel pumps, which were being operated by two VASFA groups, were replaced by solar water pumps, and the tariff collected by these groups will contribute towards upfront costs of replacement for the remaining groups.

Currently, farmers whose land are located outside VASFA’s catchment area either own private diesel pumps or rely on renting pump sets on an hourly basis. The former option is expensive, especially due to high maintenance and operating costs. About INR 3000 are spent by each of the farmer on diesel alone in the seasons of Rabi and Kharif. For renting a pump set for one hour farmers in the area pay INR 120 making rented pumps an equally  expensive as well as unreliable source of irrigation. “Getting water from an institution, such as VASFA, instead of private individuals”, Ram Chandra Thakur (62) says, “would give us more security concerning water access. Solar pumping would furthermore help us to save on irrigation cost.”

Educating farmers about solar pumping technology, including  operation and maintenance as well as technical features, such as output and operating times, is one of the main goals of the demonstration sites. About 250 farmers will visit the site(s) each year and attend the workshops and information sessions where their questions related to solar pumping will be answered. Simultaneously, these events will give solar companies the opportunity to gain a better understanding of their customers’ preferences and choices relating to the technology. In addition, the presence of bankers, NGOs and government agencies will be an integral part of these events giving them a better understanding about the technology as well as the obstacles faced by farmers interested in converting to solar. “The planning and installation of the two solar pumps has been a very enriching experience” highlights Nilanjan Ghose, technical expert of IGEN-RE. The sites for replacement of the two pumps were selected democratically involving all the irrigation groups under VASFA. The installation of the solar panels was customized to ensure minimum blocking of agricultural land. Santosh Singh, technical expert of IGEN-RE explains: “we hope that these demonstration sites will aid in educating and awareness raising amongst all stakeholders concerned, paving the way for similar installations and finally leading to a broader market-based uptake of the technology in Bihar”. GIZ is working towards development of market ecosystem for solar water pumps.

Water gushing out from solar pump to the agricultural fields at Lalpura Village at Vaishali, Bihar 

 

A solar pump demonstration site at Vaishali, Bihar

Adding new value to traditional ways of production - Innovative business models for watermills in Uttarakhand

Traditional watermill in Baliya, Uttarakand

Using the power of water and converting it into mechanical energy has a long tradition in Uttarakand. However, owners of traditional watermills, so-called gharats, are recently facing increased competition from diesel and electric mills located directly at the markets where they grind wheat to flour. Although many nutrients get lost in the accelerated milling process of diesel and electric mills, the shortened processing time and convenient location allows them to sell their products at a higher price than traditional mills.

In cooperation with the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), IGEN-RE follows a two-pronged approach to improve the livelihoods of mill owners: firstly, IGEN-RE supports the process of upgrading traditional mill technologies to increase their efficiency level and output. Secondly, the project develops models to set up additional sustainable livelihood activities based on the energy generated.

Water mill owners in Baliya, a small village near Almora all share concerns for their businesses in the near and long-term future. “It is the older people that come here. They like our flour and appreciate its superior quality” the mill owners say. “They are loyal customers who don’t mind travelling the extra distance down the river. But what will happen once they are gone?”

Khemsingh next to his flour scales

Further down the mountains, Khemsingh, the head of a 15 person household and owner of a watermill located along a water channel close to Dehradun faces a different situation. He explains: “there is no competition from electrical or diesel powered mills here, and there are only a total of three water driven mills in this area, but the demand for wheat grinding is higher than these mills can cope with”. Kamla, who has been operating her family’s watermill on her own since her husband died 29 years ago, confirms this statement. For 12 hours she grinds up to 500kg of wheat every day – when the demand is too high or if she needs the additional income, she also works throughout the night. For each kilogram of ground wheat, she earns 1 Rupee amounting to a daily wage of 400 to 500Rs. “With a more efficient mill, I could shorten my workdays and maybe also increase my income”.

      

Kamla at her work place

A Self Help Group (SHG) of 15 members, with support from the local NGO IDS, has developed a promising business idea based on the assumption that the improved mills will shorten processing time and increase milling efficiency. The concept foresees to carry out bulk purchases from mills, package the flour, and sell it off to wholesalers who would then distribute and market the product in local markets. By emphasising the product’s premium quality due to the traditional milling process, they can achieve a higher market price. Currently, individual farmers deliver their wheat to the mills and pick it up again once it is processed paying either in cash or flour. The new set-up would enable mill owners to increase their daily throughput allowing them to raise their turnover and revenues whilst decreasing transaction costs and establish long-term business contracts. SHG members on the other hand would get the opportunity to increase and diversify their portfolio of livelihood generating activities. So far, the SHG has been successfully engaged in the set up of dairy farming businesses, sewing classes, intra group lending schemes as well as insurance provisions to members and non-members.

One obstacle for the venture is a general lack of market data, e.g. it is unclear whether a premium price for traditional watermill products can be achieved and how much output the improved mill as well as the SHG are able to deliver. Another difficulty that has yet to be overcome is the need for a certification process that guarantees the superior quality of products from watermills in a transparent manner to wholesalers and end consumers. In cooperation with local and regional stakeholders IGEN-RE is working to overcome these barriers and to identify additional potential uses of the energy generated by the mills which, for example, could be utilized as a source of independent and decentralized electricity provision.