Una, Himachal Pradesh

The average monthly per capita expenditure of rural agricultural households is relatively high for the district, suggesting higher purchasing capacity of the farmers here. The district has a relatively high penetration of banks in rural and semi-rural areas, facilitating higher access to institutional credit for 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	Not Suitable
Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps	Not Suitable

Individually owned off-grid solar pumps

Limited Suitability

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

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Number of cultivators reporting use of diesel pumps	1,348	20
Water Availability Index	0.7	55
Crop revenue per holding (INR)	86,158	52
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	141.7	74

Solar based water as a service

Not Suitable

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

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Water Availability Index	0.7	55
Proportion of small and marginal cultivators	83%	45
Unirrigated net sown area as a share of total net sown area	69%	59

Promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps

Not Suitable

The district has a rather high concentration of marginal farmers. But, a relatively low proportion of horticulture crops under gross cropped area, a comparatively low disbursement of institutional credit to marginal farmers, and groundwater availability below the safe limit make it extremely difficult to promote 1 HP and sub-HP pumps here. Such pumps can be promoted only if clubbed with micro-irrigation along with support to farmers for pump adoption and undertaking horticulture.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Area under horticulture crops as a share of gross cropped area	4%	38
Water Availability Index	0.7	55
Proportion of marginal cultivators	65%	51
Medium and long term institutional credit disbursed in a year (in INR Crore)	141.7	74

Leveraging Solar Pumps to Promote Policy Objectives

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

Har Khet ko Pani

A relatively high proportion of the net sown area in the district is unirrigated, indicating high irrigation demand. Solar pumps can help improve access to underground irrigation as part of Har_Khet_ko_Pani.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Unirrigated net sown area as a share of total net sown area	69%	59

Doubling Farmers’ Income – Crop Intensity

A relatively high proportion of the district’s net sown area is unirrigated. Lack of access to irrigation is one of the major barriers to growing crops beyond two conventional seasons, rabi and kharif. Ensuring irrigation access through solar power will help improve cropping intensity and move towards the aim of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

Parameter	Value	Percentile
Unirrigated net sown area as a share of total net sown area	69%	59

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	4%	38

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	2%	33

Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation – Farm Power Availability

There is a comparatively low level of farm mechanisation in the district and a relatively low proportion of electric pump users, indicating an opportunity to increase the exisiting level of mechanisation through solar based irrigation. Solar powered irrigation could be deployed under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation to improve farm power availability.