Bihar’s Solar Didis begin to light up lives of smallholder farmers

Two years ago, Devki Devi in Ratanpura village, Bochcha tehsil of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, was an ordinary housewife. Her family struggled to meet its daily needs, including food.  

Sunita Devi of Bhagwanpur Dadhya in Karanpur South Panchayat in the same tehsil was confined to home tending to family and the cattle. The lives of both women have transformed now for good.

Devki and Sunita are today known as “Solar Didis” in their village. Their decision to take up solar power irrigation in 2023 has changed their lives and they are now looking to build on the gains of their past 1-½ years.

NGOs’ role

It is not just these two women. There are over 90 such women entrepreneurs in Bochcha taluk whose lives have changed by taking up the supply of solar power irrigation. In turn, they are trying to bring light in the lives of over 3,000 smallholding farmers in their taluk. 

“Over 3,000 small farmers in the taluk are benefitting from these Solar Didis. Non-governmental organisations such as Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India (AKRSP), Jeevika, micro-finance firm Rang De, Axis Bank and Gates Foundation are behind this initiative, said Mukesh Chandra, Team Leader, AKRSP. 

These women supply water at competitive rates to farmers in nearby farms. “Bihar is a State with farmers having very smallholdings such as one katta or two kattas. (One katta is 1/20th of an acre). It is difficult for farmers to have irrigation facilities on such lands. So, they buy from neighbouring farmers for a price,” said Chandra. 

Five years ago, when power was unavailable, farmers bought water pumped using diesel sets. After that, they turned to pumps run on electricity. “Today, people have begun to look at solar pump irrigation, which is not only competitive but results in timely irrigation which improves the yield and quality of crops,” says the AKRSPI team leader. 

Switch over to other crops

Water supplied using diesel pumps costs ₹150-200 an hour and from pumps run on electricity, the cost is ₹120-150. “I charge ₹100 an hour. It can irrigate 3-4 kattas in an hour,” said Devki. 

That works out to ₹25-35 per katta against ₹60 for pumps run on electricity and ₹75 for those run on diesel. “Diesel or electricity-run pumps are 3 horsepower but these solar pumps are of 5 horsepower. So, they supply more water. Besides, farmers need not worry about power cuts,” said Chandra.

The guaranteed water supply has now led to farmers switching over to cash crops, particularly horticulture, from paddy, maize and other foodgrain crops. “The switch over will intensify in the coming days,” says the AKRSP team leader.

To set up the solar pump irrigation, each woman has to make an initial investment of at least ₹6 lakh. Of this, the Gates Foundation takes care of ₹3 lakh, supplying the solar water pumps. “The rest is to dig a borewell, construct pipelines to the lands of farmers who purchase water, build a shed for the pump as well as its operator,” says Chandra. 

For Devki, a relative gave a ₹50,000 loan at 10 per cent interest. Sunita managed over ₹50,000 from her savings. They then got loans from Rang De, which provides loans at 8 per cent interest, and the self-help group they belong to. 

Selection criteria

“We have some criteria for picking up the women entrepreneurs to run the solar pump irrigation. They should not have more than two acres of landholding and they should be part of self-help groups. Earlier, we were scouting for such women entrepreneurs, now they come in search of us,” said Chandra.

This targeting has helped Devki, whose husband is a painter, send her children for tuition, while Sunita, whose husband is a farmer, has put her grandchildren in private schools. More than that they are happy that their families realise their value and their husbands have begun to consult or help them. 

In addition, Sunita’s family uses biogas (gobar gas) with its cattle being the source. It has helped cut the use of LPG gas to one cylinder from two earlier. Devki has expanded her pipeline length by an additional 500 metres, while Sunita another 800 metres.

For the NGOs and the Gates Foundation, this helps in transition to low carbon development and adding “green jobs”.  Increasing women’s representation in green jobs will lead to benefits such as boosting a low-carbon and environmentally sustainable economy.

Putting more income in the hands of women yields beneficial results for general human development, as they tend to invest more in children’s nutrition, health and education.