Group-owned solar pumps would make irrigation cheaper: Study

Solar-powered irrigation pumps can assist farmers immensely in irrigation, but most of these are privately owned and do not help the country's agriculture sector much.

Group-owned solar pumps, and transfer of excess electricity from the privately owned solar pumps to the national grid would facilitate environment-friendly and cheaper irrigation, according to a recent study.

"By not encouraging group ownership of solar pumps, we may be losing an opportunity to expand electrification to farmers who otherwise cannot afford solar irrigation pumps and are dependent on costly sources like diesel in absence of the power from the national grid," said Dr Shefali Khanna, while presenting the study titled "Solarising agriculture: estimating the impact of solar irrigation pumps" at a conference.

The two-day conference of the International Growth Centre kicked off at the hotel Intercontinental in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Surveying 29 villages in six districts in January and May of 2023, the researchers found that income from the solar irrigation pumps may increase if farmers can use the pumps for other activities besides irrigation.

Dr Shefali Khanna said selling surplus energy to the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board could unlock additional benefits, such as an additional revenue stream. Besides, it could increase the efficiency of groundwater use. Surplus energy from solar pumps could also reduce polluting sources of energy.

There are around 1.6 million irrigation pumps across the country. Of which 70% are run by diesel while the remaining number of pumps are run with grid electricity and solar power, according to the ministry of agriculture.  

At present, the country has 2,971 solar irrigation pumps which have a combined generation capacity of 55.063 megawatts per hour, according to the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority.

The Infrastructure Development Company Limited has set a target to install 50,000 solar irrigation pumps by 2025, and the government has made low-interest loans available to the company for this purpose. 

Participating in the session as the chief guest, Nasrul Hamid, State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, said the government has already placed net metering for rooftop solar systems that allow industries to sell electricity to the national grid.

"However, we need to consider the financial viability before connecting solar irrigation pumps with the distribution grid," he said.  

Unskilled labour force making room for foreign manpower

In the opening session of the conference, speakers said despite having an abundant low-cost labour force, many local investors are hiring a large number of skilled workforce from abroad, as the local workers are not skilled.

The expert panellists underscored the importance of enhancing allocation in the education sector to generate a skilled workforce.

Exporting goods and services, remittance earning is increasing gradually, but employment opportunities in the country are not expanding as required, the speakers said.

They pointed out that around 1.93 million youths emerge in the job market every year in Bangladesh amid a limited job creation here.

The second session on proper utilisation of internal resources was moderated by the Bangladesh Bank's former governor Atiur Rahman.

MA Razzaque, chairman of Research and Policy Integration for Development, said income inequality has increased in the country. On the other hand, government expenditure in various sectors including education and health was very low, which was alarming.

Center for Policy Dialogue Distinguished Fellow professor Mustafizur Rahman said increasing inequality is a big obstacle in the way of Bangladesh's growth.

The government has provided tax exemption in many cases without increasing direct taxes. Besides the country is completely dependent on domestic and foreign loans for development works, these are reasons for increasing discrimination, he said.

The third session of the opening day was attended by Atonu Rabbani, associate professor of Economics from University of Dhaka; Rohini Kamal, Research Fellow from Brac Institute of Governance and Development; Amrita Kunda, assistant professor of Georgetown University, among others, participated in the programme.