Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh

In the district, horticulture crops occupy a relatively high proportion of gross cropped area, raising the economic viability of solar pumps here. The average monthly per capita expenditure of rural agricultural households is relatively high for the district, suggesting higher purchasing capacity of the farmers here. For average crop revenue per holding, the district appears among the top 25 percentile of districts, implying higher investment capacity of the farmers here. There is a comparatively high level of farm mechanization in the district, implying a positive outlook towards progressive technologies amongst the farmers.

Deployment Approaches

Approaches	Feasibility
Individually owned off-grid solar pumps	Not Suitable
Solarisation of feeders	Suitable
Solar based water as a service	Not Suitable
Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps	Not Suitable

Individually owned off-grid solar pumps

Not Suitable

The district has high crop revenue per holding overall. But, ground water availability is below the safe limit, the concentration of diesel pump users is comparatively low, and disbursement of institutional credit is also relatively low, making it extremely difficult to promote the private ownership of solar pumps here.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Number of cultivators reporting use of diesel pumps	13,917	47
Water Availability Index	0.61	48
Crop revenue per holding (INR)	170,128	79
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	6.4	34

Solarisation of feeders

Suitable

Given the relatively high bullk power purchase rate for the respective DISCOM, a comparatively high extent of feeder segregation, and a high penetration of electric pumps, solarisation of the feeders would be a recommended way to promote solar-powered irrigation in the district. It would ensure the rapid and cost effective solarisation of irrigation power at a large scale.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Power purchase rate for DISCOM (INR/kWh)	4.48	97
Extent of feeder segregation	100%	69
Proportion of cultivators reporting use of electric pumps	41%	87

Solar based water as a service

Not Suitable

The district has a rather low concentration of small and marginal farmers and a relatively low proportion of unirrigated area. Moreover, groundwater availability is below the safe limit, making it extremely difficult to promote solar-based irrigation through the water-as-a-service model here.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Water Availability Index	0.61	48
Proportion of small and marginal cultivators	83%	45
Unirrigated net sown area as a share of total net sown area	48%	39

Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps

Not Suitable

The district has a relatively high proportion of horticulture crops under gross cropped area. But, a rather low concentration of marginal farmers, a comparatively low disbursement of institutional credit to them, and groundwater availability below the safe limit make it extremely difficult to promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps here.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Area under horticulture crops as a share of gross cropped area	28%	86
Water Availability Index	0.61	48
Proportion of marginal cultivators	55%	38
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	6.4	34

Leveraging Solar Pumps to Promote Policy Objectives

If you are deploying solar pumps in this district then you can further these policy objectives.

Per Drop More Crop

In the district, crops suitable for drip and sprinkler irrigation occupy a relatively high proportion of gross cropped area, making it easy to adopt such high precision irrigation methods. Solar pumps, along with other efficient and precise water application devices, could be deployed under Per Drop More Crop to promote efficient irrigation.