‘We get roughly 3-4 hours of electricity every day which we use to operate the water pumps.’ Mangilal shares, ‘But due to frequent power cuts, we are unable to water the crops & often face losses.’
Mangilal is a farmer from Lohsing village near Udaipur, and is the breadwinner for a family of seven. He faces multiple challenges when it comes to farming. He owns half-an-acre of land on which he cultivates wheat, vegetables, & spices. Both harvesting & logistics are of great concern to him as he does not have access to facilities like a freezer to store his vegetable produce.
On the days he has to sell his produce, he wakes up at 5 AM & makes the 25-kilometre journey to the market.
‘Vegetables like coriander have to reach the market the same day, otherwise I would not get the right value for it’, he shares.
This instance highlights the daily struggle of farmers like Mangilal & the limited access they have to both markets & effective methods of farming & storage.
With time, more farmers are shifting from traditional to modern methods. One of these is using water pumps for irrigation instead of cattle.
This method, however time-saving, incurs great costs in electricity.
Bhagwat, another farmer of Lohsing village, lives with his wife, 2 children & his brother’s family.
He cultivates wheat, pulses on his land & uses a pump for irrigation. His electricity costs range between INR 5,000-10,000 every month.
Despite such high costs, he has no other option but to continue using such expensive methods.
Farmers like him also face financial challenges in acquiring the right pump. The ideal set-up ranges between INR 2-4 lakhs, which is something an average farmer cannot afford. Irrigation is one of the most important parts of farming. However, due to severe power cuts & drying wells, getting water to the fields is becoming increasingly difficult for these farmers.
‘If we had better access to electricity & water sources, we would be able to expand our farms & sell more harvest.’ Bhagwat shares.
Majority of farmers across India practice a mix of subsistence & commercial farming. Due to the lack of electricity, better storage facilities & access to ethical markets, these farmers are often forced to grow limited crops.
The volatile economic conditions often prevent them from getting the right value for their produce.
Approximately 60% of India’s population is involved in agriculture & farming is an ancestral occupation in our country. However, as years pass, the newer generations are migrating to different cities to find a more stable source of income.
The farmers that remain, still do not have access to alternative sources of energy that are sustainable & can provide them with the right value for their hard work & efforts.
Since inception, UUIPCL’s mission has been to support rural communities in attaining a sustainable livelihood.
And as part of this mission, UUIPCL have taken up the task of enabling these last-mile farming households, which includes supporting them with essential products such as solar lights which have proven to help these families immensely, especially in the absence of electricity. It has also enabled them with small-sized agri-input tools which makes their everyday work easier in the fields.
Through such initiatives, UUIPCL is striving to resolve our farmer community’s market challenges.
In the near future, UUIPCL also aims to introduce more products that would not only be affordable, but would also make cultivating, harvesting processes more effective & sales more profitable for the farmers.
