By Menila Kharel and Sujan Piya

The impact of climate change on water resources is alarming. Increasing temperature is causing higher evaporation which causes extreme drying of lands leading to droughts across the world. Melting of snow in Himalayan Region has been affecting fresh water resources in the plain areas. Erratic rainfall with high run-off affects ground water reservoirs. All these factors off-sets the supply system of water affecting the agriculture based livelihood in most of the hilly areas of Nepal. The case of Jumla District, one of the remotest hill pockets in Karnali, is no different.

Jumla holds huge agriculture potentialities. In fact, it is popular as first organic district, super zone for apple and for the indigenous Marshi rice. Here, agriculture mostly relies upon rain water. But erratic rainfall and extreme winds have been affecting production in recent years.  Alternatively, beautiful Tila River and natural water reservoirs are the other sources of water. But communities have no means to use water from these sources. With the acute water shortage, the huge agriculture potentialities of Jumla have not been fully utilised. In this context, Solar water pumps are demonstrated in four areas of Jumla District along the bank of Tila River under BICAS project implemented by Practical Action with the financial support from the European Union and Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA). These pumps are irrigating 8 ha of land and directly benefitting 130 households. The farming communities have now started intercropping in apple orchards and vegetable farming. Since last few months, Solar Powered Irrigation (SPI) has brought smiles in the faces of Jumla’s farming communities. When it was first introduced in their district, they did not believe it could lift water and help them to irrigate their lands.

“It seems like a miracle to us. We never had any idea about solar powered irrigation. With the regular availability of water, we are excited to expand apple orchards,”

Min Bahadhur Thapa, chairperson of solar pump user committee

Reducing Drudgeries  

Agriculture is mostly taken care by old people in Jumla. Youths are out of the district either for education or for employment in India and gulf countries. The one and only way to irrigate lands was to manually carry water from Tila River which is an arduous job. Solar pumps now have helped both men and women farming communities get rid of carrying loads of water for irrigation. Their time and labour has been significantly saved which can be used for other income generation options.

Business Model for Sustainability “Pay for Water”

There is no electricity in the areas where solar pumps are demonstrated. Thus, these have been good option for the farming communities of Jumla. Solar water pumps are easy to operate and maintain. The pumps are socially and economically sound as they are cheaper than diesel pumps in the long run and demand no virtual labour.

The pumps are demonstrated under the grant scheme. SunFarmer, a renowned private sector company for solar pumps supported in installing the pumps and training the local people. The locally developed skilled human resource will take care of maintenance if needed. The SPI system also leveraged the fund from Prime Minister Agriculture Modernisation Project (PMAMP) and mobilised community for labour contribution. SPI is managed by a user committee consisting both male and female members. The chairperson of the committee is responsible for operating pump and distributing water for communities. Communities are adopting “pay for water” scheme. Under this scheme, each household pays fee for using water in a monthly basis. The amount collected is deposited in bank and will be used for providing incentive for care taker and maintenance of pump. This “pay for water” scheme will allow community for sustainable use of solar pumps.

Scaling up Solar Powered Irrigation

Simple to use, labour saving and cost effective solar pumps have high potentiality for scaling up in Jumla and other geographic regions of Nepal where there is no electricity. Currently, the pumps are demonstrated under the grant scheme. Grant models are effective for demonstration or buying the risk of farmers who have never used the technology before. The replication of such technology require communities’ acceptance of the technology and willingness to pay, local government’s priority to promote technology and more importantly private sector perception on business incentive to expand their supply network. Financing on such technology in rural hilly areas is a key issue for widespread use of such technology. Due to high transaction cost and higher risks, financial institute barely prioritise these areas for lending.

The payback period is often high when farmers invest but this can be minimized by adopting different business models like Pay-as–you-go, enterprise model of solar irrigation and water marketing, contractor model etc. The government of Nepal also provide huge subsidies for solar pumps. As per the Nepal’s renewable energy policy, farmers get 60 per cent grant, paying 40 per cent upfront. For women, the grant is greater- 70 per cent instead of 60 per cent, provided the ownership of land on which pumps are installed remains on women. After the pumps are installed, “Pay for water” scheme ensures the sustainability of the solar pumps.

The solar powered irrigation is a climate smart technology, helping drought-hit farmers to irrigate their lands and increase agriculture production in rural areas of Nepal.