Tony Delaney, research project manager at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI), and Ankit Chandra, DWFI research program manager, recently presented during the “International Conversation on Small-Scale Mechanization in Cultivation, Irrigation, and Value Addition for Sorghum and Millets.” The online event was hosted by Sorghum United, an international team of equal peers dedicated to the advancement of the global sorghum and millet industries.
Irrigation and Mechanization in Developing Areas
Delaney shared the work of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS), a new, USAID-funded initiative led by DWFI. ILIMS generates research-based evidence to support the growth of vibrant irrigation and mechanization markets; develops strong institutions and local capacity for their sustainability; and fosters opportunities for equitable access.
Delaney stressed that moving away from manual labor in smallholder farming and introducing simple technologies and mechanizations can have an incredible impact on those communities. Doing so can decrease reliance on animals, increase opportunities for youth education, and generally increase farmers’ quality of living. While irrigation is usually the first form of mechanization, it is most often coupled with other forms of mechanization and inputs to get a better return on investment, which is essential to ensure the systems are adopted over the long-term. Financing, training, and maintenance are also critical challenges for adoption. Recent studies have shown that smallholder farmers can better access irrigation and mechanization through hiring as a service. To support this trend, the ILIMS lab will have a strong emphasis on mechanization as a service.
Irrigation Mechanization in India: Trends and Challenges
Chandra discussed the trends and challenges to irrigation mechanization in India, the largest user of groundwater for agriculture in the world, driven by large investments from both private and government sectors. He summarized results from his two recent publications - “Shifting dynamics in the irrigation pump market and environmental implications in India” [accepted] in Frontiers in Environmental Science and “Risks from solar-powered groundwater irrigation” in Science Journal.
Chandra said that millets have low water requirements and are resilient to climate change, making them a part of the solution for both water and food security. Additionally, millets are clearly tied to the efficient irrigation mechanization goals in India by reducing groundwater usage and serving as a long-term renewable resource. Chandra highlighted that the states with lower groundwater levels have become the major producers of millet as a response to water stress. Currently, India is the largest producer of millet.
There is a shift from diesel to electric pumps in India, said Chandra. He attributes this to lower maintenance and operating costs to the farmer for electric pumps among other reasons. However, there has been a recent push to move toward solar irrigation, which is seen as a more sustainable form of energy. Chandra says that these solar pumps are often used in addition to diesel or electric pumps — rather than as a replacement — as the pumping cost is nearly zero, which results in an increase in total water and energy use.
Despite government subsidies, the adoption of solar irrigation is slow, likely due to the high out-of-pocket costs farmers must still pay to purchase the equipment. This has also resulted in more informal water markets and irrigation service provisions in India, where farmers purchase irrigation-as-a-service directly from another farmer, entrepreneur, or private company. Chandra said that in the future, more groundwater governance is needed at the community level, incentives should be designed for water-efficient practices that are tied to the value chain and more research should be done on alternative finance and business models for smallholder farmers.