Farmers across Bangladesh are grappling with soaring diesel costs and supply disruption, yet the irrigation network of the Barisal division has sidestepped the crisis. Solar-powered pumps have emerged as the new bulwark against spiralling input prices. The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) calculates that diesel-fed irrigation costs a farmer BDT 40 per decimal (1 decimal is roughly 40.47 square meters) of land. The same coverage using a solar pump requires just BDT 0.25.

Barisal division’s six districts currently host 340 diesel-run irrigation schemes. BADC has rolled out the project across Barisal, Bhola, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalakathi. The agency has also installed 45 solar-powered pumps and 31 electric pumps across these districts. Separately, the Water Development Board has erected 78 pump houses under an initiative titled the Irrigation Project, which spans seven upazilas. These pump houses are distributed as follows: 16 in Barisal Sadar, 14 in Babuganj, 12 in Bakerganj, 14 in Nalchity, 14 in Jhalakathi Sadar, seven in Rajapur and one in Kaukhali.

Each Water Development Board pump has a capacity of 25 cusec and can lift 700 litres of water per second. Local organisations channel the output from these pump houses to cultivators. Irrigating a single unit of land with a private diesel setup costs about BDT 7,500. Relying on the board’s gravity pumps slashes that figure to BDT 2,000.

Beneficiary farmers describe a cooperative model in which a committee forms around a contiguous block of 25 acres. BADC then equips the group with a solar-powered pump, an underground drainage network and ten delivery slabs. Each association pays a one-time fee of BDT 30,000 for the pump hardware and an annual BDT 15,000 to the public exchequer. The government has spent BDT 1,690,584 per installation on the pump and drainage infrastructure. An additional BDT 1,200,000 covers the subterranean piping. The system eliminates water loss, which in turn pares back operating outlay and overall production expense.

Wahed, a farmer affiliated with the Chandrapara irrigation scheme in Babuganj, runs a diesel-powered unit under the BADC project that serves 30 acres of Boro rice. He has irrigated his fields on schedule and remains untouched by fuel price volatility. Tidal water floods the local canal well before the month of Chaitra, he notes, so diesel is no concern. “This year, there’s no water scarcity in our Barisal region,” Wahed said. Farmers Mizanur Rahman Miraj and Neshar Uddin of Barisal Sadar upazila echoed that assessment.

Nurul Islam Gazi, who chairs the irrigation committee for the Zagua’s Khoyerdia area in Barisal Sadar, described the annual BDT 15,000 treasury deposit as a pittance. “Had we used diesel or kerosene pumps, the outlay would have been several times higher,” he said.

BADC Sub-Assistant Engineer Biswajit Sikder said farmers are securing low-cost production and reliable irrigation while also tapping surface water. Nearly 1,000 acres in Barisal now draw irrigation from rivers and canals, a shift that will bring down production costs.

Executive Engineer Syed Wahid Murad of BADC Barisal underscored the difference. “We have solar irrigation pumps here,” he said. “Using a solar pump costs BDT 25 per acre. Diesel costs BDT 4,000. That is BDT 40 per decimal versus just BDT 0.25.”