The challenge of small farming in India

One of the biggest challenges with farming in India is profitability. Small farms, in particular, struggle to make ends meet. This is mainly on account of two reasons. One, input prices have increased dramatically over the last few years. Prices for fertilisers, labour, seeds and energy have all inflated. Two, farmers do not have a say in setting prices for their produce. Thanks to the combination of these two factors, small farming in India has been largely reduced to subsistence farming. 

Energy plays a crucial role insofar as it enables irrigation. Most of India’s irrigation is dependent on ground-water, especially in states like Karnataka. Despite improved irrigation facilities, water from distant canals does not reach small farmers due to a host of problems. Therefore, becoming water-independent is critical. To become water-independent farmers most necessarily become energy-independent. The grid, although present in most rural areas, still is yet to reach all farms given that costs for bringing the wires and poles to the remote farm, has to be borne by the farmer. Second, the supply of electricity is still not reliable. One of the biggest challenges of erratic power supply is the lack of predictability. Labourers have to lie waiting for the power to switch on to be able to arrange the irrigation pipes and position the sprinklers throughout the farm. Further, over-voltages are common, resulting in pumps becoming damaged. This adds to the cost of constant pump replacement or repair. 

Where solar comes in 

Solar PV has now been used for decades to solve this problem. It can be installed pretty much anywhere in the farm where the sun shines brightly. Costs too, have decreased drastically over the years, making it more affordable. Solar supply chains have also improved even in remote areas, making solar pumps accessible. 

However, traditionally solar PV has been limited to powering pumps. Now, with improvements in inverters and controllers, the existing solar system is being used for a variety of farm applications. 

Moving Farmers up the Value Chain

Despite the fact that activities such as growing, picking, processing take the longest (all happen on the farm), the hullers (removing the husk from the bean) and roasting and packing make the most profit. Why? There are the inherent inequities in power relationships, but also because farmers sell a commodity, but the packet of coffee you buy at the shop is a product. This journey from produce to product is what makes people money. Consumers are buying into a way-of being, not so much a cup of coffee, and are therefore willing to pay more for a branded product rather than a commodity. This is why moving farmers up the value chain is critical to make small scale farming profitable (see figure 1). 

Figure 1: The coffee value chain (source: Bala)

The keystone to enable this journey is to be as independent of both inputs and outputs as possible. Can farmers get off expensive chemicals? Can farmers become more efficient in utilising labour? Can farmers avoid the use of expensive diesel? Or an unreliable grid? On the output side, can farmers be given the ability to sell, market their own products without the middleman?

Figure 2: Factors influencing farming independence

We think so. 

The small (yet significant) pilot

Climate Dot partnered with Shreenath Smart Technologies & Kisan Solar, a solar pump controller manufacturer, and a good friend and farmer Bala to demonstrate and test a solar system to power multiple farm equipment. The farm is located in the misty hills of Karnataka’s Western Ghats in Chikmagalur district.  

Figure 3: Pictures of the farm and the installation (source: Akhilesh Magal)

Shredding our way ahead 

To get things started, a 5.2 kW system was set up in 2022, which was primarily used for irrigation. Then in 2023, we managed to connect a powerful 5 HP shredding machine (see video). This was the first instance of unutilized power being used to power farm machineries. The shredder was used to process farm biomass (leaves, branches), which was converted into a fine powder and used as a ground-cover to prevent evaporation. It was also composted to create high nitrogen manure. 

Video : A 5 HP shredder running only on solar (source: Bala / Our Happy Little Farms YouTube Channel)

But our vision is for something bigger! We hope that using the solar PV system, we will be able to significantly improve farm efficiency through automation and the use of modern processing equipment (see figure below).

Figure 4: Our vision for a fully solar, automated coffee farm

Plans for 2024

2024 is an exciting year! We have two important tasks. One, augment the solar PV capacity to 6.5 kW. This will give us the additional power to run an important new piece of machinery. Which brings us to point two - we have just received delivery of a custom made coffee roasting machine (see figure 5). We hope that for perhaps the first time in India (and the world?), we will be able to run a coffee roasting machine entirely on solar (without any storage whatsoever). This single piece of equipment will single handedly help Bala move up the value chain by selling custom-roasted coffee to customers all over India  (and the world?).

Figure 5: Our custom built coffee-roaster made by Bharat Coffee Works, Bangalore (picture credits: Bala)

Two advancements in technology enable the farmer to reach customers like never before. One the ICT revolution, even in rural India, has made it possible for the farmer to connect to the internet and online marketplaces. Two, the development of delivery services even in remote areas, enable the farmer to ship the coffee at a relatively low cost and fairly quickly. Both these interventions have been invaluable.

We will keep you posted on developments as they happen. And we hope that very soon, each one of you will be able to sip a truly “sun-roasted” coffee!