Karamat Ali's cows and buffalos once provided his multi-generational family with milk. But earlier this year, the 61-year-old sold about a dozen bovine - and spent the proceeds on a set of solar panels.
Advertisement
The rice farmer in Pakistan's Punjab province now uses his panels to power a tube well, which is composed of a water well and a motorised groundwater pump. The device allows Ali to irrigate his crops with greater ease and frees him from depending on the erratic electricity grid and pricey diesel to power the pump.
"Water supply to my paddy feed is smoother than before," he said.
As Pakistan undergoes a solar revolution, farmers like Ali are increasingly ditching diesel and grid power for sun-powered tube wells, according to interviews with 10 growers, as well as government officials and analysts.
The solar boom has coincided with the rapid depletion of water tables in Pakistan's most populous province, according to previously unreported Punjab water authority documents viewed by Reuters. The documents did not pinpoint any cause.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member