Identification and analysis of barriers in adoption of off grid solar powered agriculture pumps by individual farmers in Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh region

Solar powered irrigation system is getting popular worldwide amid the growing concern for environment and climate change. Indian government is also encouraging farmers to adopt this technology due its environmental and long term economic benefits. To accelerate its adoption, government has launched “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM)” scheme in 2019, with an ambitious target of installing 2 million off-grid solar powered pumps by December 2022. However, in spite of financial subsidy and commercial benefits, the development and growth solar powered pumps are of inadequate. This suggest farmers may be facing several challenges in its adoption. Therefore, a comprehensive work is needed to identify major barriers in adopting this technology at rural level. These barriers may be economical, lack of awareness, technical, cultural, regulatory or procedural. Current research project aims to systematically identify these barriers in the region of Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh and propose solutions to overcome these barriers. The factors influencing adoption will be identified using the comprehensive literature review followed by the semi-structured interview with the farmers, agricultural and energy experts, government officers and local banks engaged in the approval of solar powered pumps in this region. A qualitative tool such as Focus group discussion, brainstorming session, interview method will be used for data collection. A structured set of questions will be used to explore different strategic issues to improve the adoption among the farmers. The research also employs a casebased research method to investigate the contemporary research phenomenon. The present research is the first kind of study that examines the challenges faced by local farmers while deciding off-grid solar powered irrigation system at ground level. The findings of current study may help academician, regulators and solar energy practitioners to focus their future efforts