Supaul, Bihar

Overall, water availability for irrigation in the district (based on ground water development and long-term trends of water level decline) is within the safe limit, enhancing long-term sustainability of solar pumps. It has a relatively low penetration of banks in rural and semi-rural areas, impeding access to institutional credit for farmers. There is a comparatively high level of farm mechanization in the district, implying a positive outlook towards progressive technologies amongst the farmers. The district has a relatively high proportion of small and marginal 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
Solar based water as a service	Limited Suitability
Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps	Limited Suitability

Individually owned off-grid solar pumps

Limited Suitability

The district has ground water available within the safe limit and a comparatively high concentration of diesel pump users. However, low crop revenue per holding, and the relatively low disbursement of institutional credit would make it difficult to promote the private ownership of solar pumps here.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Number of cultivators reporting use of diesel pumps	230,383	96
Water Availability Index	1	100
Crop revenue per holding (INR)	21,659	12
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	0	0

Solar based water as a service

Limited Suitability

Groundwater availability in the district is within safe limit and the concentration of small and marginal farmers is comparatively high, but the proportion of unirrigated area is relatively low. A solar-based water service will have to compete with existing sources of irrigation.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Water Availability Index	1	100
Proportion of small and marginal cultivators	96%	84
Unirrigated net sown area as a share of total net sown area	33%	29

Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps

Limited Suitability

The district has a relatively high proportion of horticulture crops under gross cropped area, high concentration of marginal farmers and groundwater availability within the safe limit, but disbursement of institutional credit to marginal farmers is comparatively low. Greater support, either through subsidies or credit, would be required to enable marginal farmers to adopt solar pumps.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Area under horticulture crops as a share of gross cropped area	7%	54
Water Availability Index	1	100
Proportion of marginal cultivators	89%	90
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 – Capital Investment

Given the high concentration of small and marginal farmers, and their relatively better access to institutional credit, the district is suitable for doubling farmers’ income through capital investment. Solar pumps could be one of the farm technologies to invest in for farmers, especially 1 HP or sub-HP pumps for marginal farmers.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Proportion of small and marginal cultivators	96%	84
Medium and long-term institutional credit disbursed in a year to small and marginal cultivators (in INR Crore)	0	0

National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP)

The relatively low share of oilseeds and oil palm crops under gross sown area in the district makes it a suitable candidate for promoting NMOOP. Solar pumps could meet irrigation needs for these crops and help farmers diversify their yields beyond cereals.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Area under oilseeds as a share of total cropped area	3%	37

Climate Resilient Farming for Small Farms

Given the high concentration of small and marginal farmers—the most vulnerable group to climate change—and a high score on climate change vulnerability index provided by CRIDA*, the district is suitable for promoting climate resilient farming for small-sized farms. Solar pumps would assist in the same through low-carbon agriculture.