Solar Energy, A Cash Crop For Gujarat Farmers

“Even if my crops fail, I still can survive by selling solar energy to the state grid,” says a relaxed Phodabhai Parmar, a 72-year-old farmer. Phodabhai has broken free of his dependence just on agriculture for livelihood, since becoming a member of India’s first ‘solar cooperative society’ set up in the small village of Dhundi in Gujarat. He, along with five other farmers, came together to create Dhundi Solar Ujra Udpadak Sahakari Mandali (DSUUSM), the solar cooperative supported by International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and sell electricity at Rs. 7.14 per unit.

Changing lives in more than one way

Until 2012-13, Dhundi, a village in Gujarat’s Kheda district, was unelectrified, with the homes and fields shrouded in darkness. The farmers would use diesel water pumps to irrigate the fields, spending between Rs 20,000 to 25,000 on diesel and maintenance alone, every year. An average Indian farmer earns a meagre income of Rs 7,800 per month, solely depending on crop cultivation alone while spending Rs 6,200 on household and agriculture.

Imagine then, how a farmer sustains his or her family and invests in future crops? The banks and cooperatives seldom provide loans to these small-time farmers stating lack of collaterals and security concerns. With no other recourse from the administration, these farmers resort to taking loans from private moneylenders for the capital for farming at absurdly high rates of interests which often the farmer can’t pay back, even if he or she tries. Perpetual indebtedness and crop failure are believed to have led to 300,000 farmer suicides since 1993. Read more…