New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Wednesday that integrating agriculture with solar energy was opening up a new pathway towards global welfare and greater economic prosperity for farmers.
Addressing the inaugural session of the three-day AgriVoltaics World Conference here, the Union Minister said that the AgriVoltaics policy must be designed to work effectively on the fields of the country’s 85 per cent small and marginal farmers, ensuring that the benefits of this technology reached those who needed them most.
He noted that AgriVoltaics technology would enable solar panels to generate electricity above the ground while crops continued to flourish beneath them.
Integrating energy production with farming was therefore one of the most important steps that could be taken in the interests of farmers, he said.
Chouhan added that India’s average landholding was just 0.96 hectares and that more than 85 per cent of farmers were small and marginal farmers.
“Such farmers did not have enough land to abandon cultivation and install solar power plants exclusively on their holdings.”
He suggested that Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) should be actively involved in the initiative and that local rural youth and women should receive training in operating, repairing and maintaining the equipment.
He highlighted that Indian agriculture continues to maintain a robust growth rate of 4.5 per cent, which is a significant achievement in itself.
“Exports of agricultural products have reached a new record of $52.55 billion, while sowing for the 2026–27 rabi season has recently commenced, with particular emphasis on pulses and oilseeds.”
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme, 30 lakh agricultural pumps had so far been connected to solar energy.
He announced that the Union government would soon launch the world’s most ambitious AgriVoltaics programme under the next phase of PM-KUSUM.
According to studies, the sector had the potential to generate around 3.32 lakh full-time local jobs. These employment opportunities would help rural youth find work in their own communities, reducing the need to migrate to district headquarters or major cities in search of livelihoods.
The initiative, Chouhan said, could thus contribute to both the expansion of renewable energy and the creation of sustainable rural employment.
He emphasised that if AgriVoltaics installations were established on just 10 per cent of this suitable area, India could meet its entire projected electricity demand up to 2050 through this approach alone.
Joshi said that India’s installed non-fossil energy capacity had crossed 308 GW, with 100 GW added in just the past two-and-a-half years.
He also highlighted the significant reduction in the cost of non-fossil electricity, which had fallen from Rs 11 per unit in 2012-13 to just Rs 2.60 per unit today, owing to large-scale production.
These developments demonstrated India’s growing strength in renewable energy and the opportunities available to expand its use in agriculture.
–IANS
sps/khz
