{"id":130587,"date":"2026-10-26T11:51:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T06:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=130587"},"modified":"2026-10-26T11:52:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T06:22:05","slug":"agrivoltaics-in-india-grow-crops-and-generate-solar-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/agrivoltaics-in-india-grow-crops-and-generate-solar-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Agrivoltaics in India: Grow Crops and Generate Solar Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Agrivoltaics in India Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Government recently announced plans to introduce agri-photovoltaics (agrivoltaics) under the second phase of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/what-is-pm-kusum\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>PM-KUSUM<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) \u2014 its flagship scheme to solarise irrigation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The approach combines solar power generation with crop cultivation on the same land, letting farmers keep growing crops while earning extra income from electricity generation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The announcement came at the <\/span><b>Agrivoltaics World Conference 2026<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 \u201cPowering the Global South\u201d in New Delhi on October 25.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What Is Agrivoltaics?<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agri-photovoltaics (agri-PV) involves installing solar panels on elevated structures over agricultural land.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This lets farmers continue cultivation underneath, while electricity is generated from the same plot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Technology-wise, the photovoltaic panels themselves are identical to those used in conventional ground-mounted solar projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The key difference: the additional infrastructure needed to elevate the panels, leaving enough space below for farming activities to continue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As per MNRE, panels are installed at a height of 3.5 to 4 metres above ground \u2014 enough to allow routine agricultural operations, including movement of machinery, without interruption.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why the Government Is Pushing This<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The govt said the approach could address the <\/span><b>shortage of land<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for solar projects while letting farming continue beneath elevated panels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Around 30% of India\u2019s 160 million hectares of cropland could be suitable for agrivoltaic projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Potential capacity estimated at 1-2 terawatts (TW), or 1,000-2,000 gigawatts (GW) \u2014 a massive scale compared to India\u2019s current total renewable capacity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agri-PV is expected to mainly help states with less non-agricultural land, enabling large-scale solar deployment without compromising food security requirements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Not All Crops Are Suitable<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agrivoltaics doesn\u2019t work uniformly across all crop types.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Government assessment studies show agri-PV is suitable for fruits and leafy vegetables.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has not been found suitable for crops like rice and sugarcane \u2014 meaning the approach currently applies to a limited crop range.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Cost Factor<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agri-photovoltaic projects cost around 25-30% more than conventional ground-mounted solar projects, due to the additional civil and structural infrastructure needed to elevate panels.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This higher upfront cost is a key challenge for scaling the model, especially for small and marginal farmers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Concerns Over Crop Yields and Farmers\u2019 Interests<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most agri-PV projects in India are still at the pilot stage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government faces the challenge of developing a policy framework that allows solar power generation to expand <\/span><b>without compromising<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> crop yields, soil health, or farmers\u2019 livelihoods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, speaking at the conference, flagged several issues needing resolution before the approach can be scaled up.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key farmer-equity concern: Over <\/span><b>85% of India\u2019s farmers are small and marginal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with average landholding just <\/span><b>0.96 hectares<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The minister stressed that the policy must be designed to benefit small farmers and protect agricultural production \u2014 not sideline them in favour of large-scale solar developers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The model must ensure farmers don\u2019t lose control of their agricultural land or suffer a decline in crop production.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since most projects remain at the pilot stage, their impact on farming must be properly assessed before scaling up.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agrivoltaics represents a genuinely promising solution to one of India\u2019s toughest land-use dilemmas: how to expand solar capacity without competing with agriculture for scarce land.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With an estimated 1-2 terawatt potential, the approach could meaningfully advance India\u2019s renewable energy goals while giving farmers a new income stream.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, with over 85% of India\u2019s farmers being small and marginal landholders, and projects still largely at the pilot stage, the real test will be whether the policy framework protects farmer control over land, crop yields, and livelihoods \u2014 rather than letting higher project costs and limited crop suitability turn agrivoltaics into a model that benefits large developers more than the smallholders it is meant to serve.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b><strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/agri-photovoltaics-financial-incentives-mnre-pm-kusum-solar-farming-10928490\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/energy\/food-vs-energy-can-agrivoltaics-solve-indias-solar-conflict\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DTE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Agrivoltaics in India combines farming and solar power generation on the same land, offering farmers additional income while raising concerns about crop yields, costs, and agricultural livelihoods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":130598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[11158,60,22,59],"class_list":["post-130587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-agrivoltaics-in-india","tag-mains-articles","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130587"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130637,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130587\/revisions\/130637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}