Factors influencing farmers' adoption of solar water-pumping systems in Gujarat

Agriculture has played an important role in the growth of the Indian economy. Water and electricity are essential inputs for agriculture today. India produces the third-largest amount of electricity in the world, behind China and the USA. As an incentive to increase production, most states provide free electricity to farmers. Free electricity has decreased groundwater levels and increased electricity consumption. The objective of this study was to find out the factors that influenced farmers to adopt a solar water-pumping system in Gujarat. The samples were randomly selected. This study examined the entire state of Gujarat. One hundred and fifty farmers who adopted solar water-pumping systems were interviewed, including 50 banana farmers, 50 cotton farmers and 50 groundnut farmers. Primary data were collected through an interview. The adoption of solar water-pumping systems by farmers was identified using factor analysis. SPSS software was used to analyse the data collected. In this study, only two factors contributed to the variance of 59.469%. The adoption of solar water pumps by farmers was influenced by government policy and economic benefits. An economic benefit variance of 33.20% was found, while a government policy variance was 26.27%. A solar water-pumping system has low initial costs, flexible credit policies motivate adoption, solar water-pumping systems can save electricity, and maintenance and repair costs are affordable. Government policy that includes solar water-pumping systems is motivated by awareness, subsidies for adoption and a fair price to sell energy surpluses. Farmers are recommended to adopt a solar water-pumping system in conjunction with a drip irrigation system to receive additional income. The successful scheme will be recommended to other states in India for implementation. The factors that influence farmers to adopt a solar water-pumping system in Gujarat, India are identified based on interviews with one hundred and fifty randomly selected farmers who have adopted such systems. Graphical Abstract