Economic Feasibility and Environmental Impact of Solar Irrigation Pumps in Rajshahi Region of Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is heavily dependent on traditional energy sources and imported fossil fuel, which harms the environment and economy. Renewable energy technologies are promoted to satisfy the country's rural energy needs mainly as a form of solar home system and solar irrigation pump. As an agriculture-based country, irrigation is vital for ensuring the country's food security. The requirement/or irrigation rises over the years, mainly due to the increase of High Yielding Variety (HYV) use, decline of the water table,_ reduction of surface water sources, increase of cropping areas, and volatility of climatic condition of the country. In recent years a sustainable source of irrigation becomes very important for Bangladesh. In this regard, solar irrigation will be a reliable source of irrigation. This study investigates the economic feasibility and environmental impact of the solar irrigation pump in Bangladesh's greater Rajshahi region. The study is mainly done based on primary data collected from the users and non-users of solar irrigation. The data have been collected from six unions of three Upazilas named Birganj under Dinajpur, Badarganj under Rangpur, and Nandigram under the Bogra district of Bangladesh. Fifty solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) with different capacities are selected randomly from the study areas after collecting a list of all solar irrigation pumps from Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL). Then, five irrigation service takers from each solar irrigation pump have been selected by following multistage random sampling technique. The information was also collected from the 100 non-users of solar irrigation to accumulate the required data by personal interviews using standard questionnaires. In addition to primary data, some secondary data are also collected from IDCOL, PO, different government institutions, and published sources such as books, reports, and journal articles for this study. The aim was to conceive the economic feasibility and environmental impact of solar irrigation pumps in the Rajshahi region of Bangladesh. Several methods and techniques have been employed to attain the objectives of the study. The life cycle cost analysis of different energy options of irrigation, standard financial analysis of different solar pumps, two-sample t-test, a binary logistic regression model, and net environmental impact analysis of the solar pumps are mentionable.-----