Thoubal, Manipur

In the district, horticulture crops occupy a relatively high proportion of gross cropped area, raising the economic viability of solar pumps here. 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. For average crop revenue per holding, the district appears among the top 25 percentile of districts, implying higher investment capacity of the farmers here. The number of medium and long-term institutional loans disbursed in the district is comparatively small, suggesting poor availability of credit amongst farmers for potential investments. 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 show (very) low vulnerability 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 high crop revenue per holding, and ground water available within the safe limit. But, a relatively low disbursement of institutional credit and comparatively low concentration of diesel pump users make it difficult to promote the private ownership of solar pumps here.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Number of cultivators reporting use of diesel pumps	4,055	30
Water Availability Index	1	100
Crop revenue per holding (INR)	151,420	76
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	0.7	24

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	86%	51
Unirrigated net sown area as a share of total net sown area	45%	37

Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps

Limited Suitability

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

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Area under horticulture crops as a share of gross cropped area	33%	88
Water Availability Index	1	100
Proportion of marginal cultivators	57%	40
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	0.7	24

Leveraging Solar Pumps to Promote Policy Objectives

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

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.