Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh

Horticulture crops occupy a relatively low proportion of gross cropped area in the district, diminishing the economic viability of solar pumps here. It has a relatively low penetration of banks in rural and semi-rural areas, impeding access to institutional credit for farmers. The district appears in the group of districts, which are (very) highly vulnerable towards climate change, as per an index constructed by CRIDA.

Deployment Approaches

Approaches	Feasibility
Individually owned off-grid solar pumps	Limited Suitability
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

Limited Suitability

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

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Number of cultivators reporting use of diesel pumps	96,219	86
Water Availability Index	0.75	59
Crop revenue per holding (INR)	136,362	71
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	0	0

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	45
Extent of feeder segregation	94%	61
Proportion of cultivators reporting use of electric pumps	37%	84

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	0.75	59
Proportion of small and marginal cultivators	71%	25
Unirrigated net sown area as a share of total net sown area	50%	41

Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps

Not Suitable

Groundwater availability in the district is below the safe limit, the concentration of marginal farmers is rather low, disbursement of institutional credit to marginal farmers is also comparatively low, and the proportion of horticulture crops under gross cropped area is relatively low, making 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	2%	25
Water Availability Index	0.75	59
Proportion of marginal cultivators	41%	24
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	0	0

Leveraging Solar Pumps to Promote Policy Objectives

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

Doubling Farmers’ Income – Crop Diversification

In the district, horticulture crops occupy a relatively low proportion of gross cropped area, indicating an opportunity for growing more high value non-staple crops. Solar-powered irrigation could be an alternative source of reliable irrigation, making it easier to achieve crop diversification and enhance farmers’ incomes.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Area under horticulture crops as a share of gross cropped area	2%	25

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.