106 Solar Irrigation Pumps in Bangladesh Put into Agricultural Production

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 27, the application of solar agricultural irrigation facilities in the Jhenaidah region of Bangladesh accelerated. At present, 106 solar irrigation pumps have been installed in agricultural areas such as Moheshpur, Kotchandpur, and Sadar, with 32 units deployed in the Moheshpur area. The equipment is mainly used for irrigation of farmland and flower-growing areas, helping local agricultural production reduce its dependence on diesel generator sets and grid power supply.

Of the existing 106 units, AID Foundation supports 34, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) supports 7, and Wave Foundation supports 65. The local Rural Reconstruction Foundation (RRF) is also advancing solar irrigation applications through the SMART project, which receives funding from the World Bank and technical support from the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF). According to PKSF information, the SMART project focuses on promoting the adoption of resource-saving and clean production technologies in agriculture and other fields, among which solar agricultural irrigation is an important application under the project's energy utilization direction.

After the solar pumps were put into use, local farmers' irrigation costs dropped significantly. RRF disclosed that when diesel or conventional electricity is used for irrigation, the cost is about 400—500 taka per bigha per month, and after using solar pumps it can drop to about 250 taka. After meeting their own farmland irrigation needs, some farmers also provide water supply services to surrounding farmers, generating additional income. Some solar systems supported by BADC can also transmit surplus electricity to the national grid after completing agricultural irrigation.

Local solar irrigation facilities continue to expand. RRF currently has 36 solar irrigation pumps in operation and plans to add more than 100 new units in the Jhenaidah region. Bangladesh's agricultural authorities are also collecting water use data from local three-season and four-season farmland to provide a basis for subsequently expanding the coverage of solar irrigation. Bangladesh's agricultural extension department previously announced that about 86 solar irrigation facilities in Jhenaidah have covered 654 hectares of farmland.