Water
Partial shade cuts evapotranspiration by up to 30%, so the same water table goes further.
Climate & impact
One plot that serves water, food and energy at once.
Agrivoltaics sits where three pressures on the smallholder meet, and eases each of them with the same structure.
Connected by the land
Three needs. One structure.
Partial shade protects crops and reduces water loss. Solar power runs irrigation and feeds the grid. The land keeps producing food.
Energy
Solar power replaces diesel pumping on the farm, and the surplus feeds clean electricity into the grid.
Food and income
Assured daytime irrigation makes a second and third crop possible, and shade suits high-value crops such as turmeric and ginger.
Resilience
Crops under the canopy face less heat stress, which protects yields as summers get hotter and monsoons less regular.
Farmer economics
A better return from the same acre
Baseline
₹40,000
per acre / year
Traditional wheat–bajra rotation on semi-arid plots
Target with Agri-PV
₹65,000–75,000
per acre / year
Within three years
40–60%
farmer income uplift
Indicative targets; the first units exist to validate them.
The national picture
How this lines up with national goals
500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030
Every village unit adds distributed solar capacity without taking land out of farming.
PM-KUSUM
The scheme backs solar pumps and grid-connected solar on agricultural land, which is what a unit combines.
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
Shade, micro-irrigation and mulching serve the mission’s water-use efficiency goals.
Learning from existing projects
Evidence from the field
Rajasthan, India
ICRIER’s 600 kW Agri-PV plant at Kundanpura village (Bassi block, Jaipur, Rajasthan) under PM-KUSUM Component A with panels at 3.5 m shows large arrays can run over mechanised farmland.
Read the sourcesSix-year Japanese trial
Rice yield fell 23% under panels while electricity lifted the field’s gross return to roughly 14× rice alone.
Read the sourcesOregon, 2021
Shaded pasture produced 38% less grass, but lamb weight gains were similar.
Read the sources