More Than Power: How Solar Could Change Farming in Uttarakhand

Rows of solar panels line once-barren terraced fields on a mountain slope, catching the eye from a distance. Beneath them, rows of fragrant rosemary plants grow in their shade, bringing a new scent of hope to a landscape that had long lain abandoned.

Rajni Devi clears weeds at the plant alongside two other women. When asked her age, she pauses to think before saying she must be over 60.

The work earns her ₹400 a day. She works for seven to eight days a month. “There are no means of employment here, so most young people from the village have migrated in search of livelihoods. Two of my five sons have gone abroad, while two others live outside the state. They come home only once every two to three years,” she says.

The fields that once helped her raise her children can no longer sustain her family. “The weather has changed. When we need rain, it does not come, and sometimes we get unseasonal rain. Whatever we manage to grow is destroyed by monkeys and wild boars. I grow pulses, just enough for our own consumption. That is all we get from our fields,” she says.

 

Most of Uttarakhand’s land is classified as forest or barren, with around 9% under cultivation. As residents migrate in search of livelihoods, agricultural land in many villages is left fallow.

Chinmay Agrawal, a 28-year-old from Rishikesh bought one such farm three years ago in Garh Kolkdhar village, in Chamba block of Tehri district, where he set up a 400-kilowatt agri-photovoltaic plant with two partners. 

The project combines solar power generation with agriculture, an approach known as agri-photovoltaic or agri-PV. The idea is to use the same land for both electricity generation and cultivation, potentially diversifying income.

“We are cultivating rosemary and geranium beneath our solar panels while supplying the electricity generated to the grid. I researched suitable plants at the Centre for Aromatic Plants in Dehradun, where we identified three to four varieties that could grow in this area,”  Chinmay says.

The agri-PV farm spans around 10,000 square metres, of which 4,000 square metres is under aromatic plant cultivation. Chinmay is now working to expand production. “We have planted 5,000 rosemary plants so far. They are perennial and require less water. We have sold dried rosemary leaves, for use as a seasoning, and have produced hydrosol (rosemary water). We are also preparing a nursery to grow more plants and scale up production so that we can also produce essential oil from it,” he explains.

With wild animals increasingly damaging crops in Uttarakhand’s hill districts, the state government is also promoting the cultivation of aromatic plants. Since these plants do not produce edible fruits, they are less likely to attract wildlife, making them an alternative for farmers grappling with crop damage.

“We also have a few geranium plants. We tried growing Damask roses and kiwi, but the results were not very encouraging,” Chinmay says, pointing to the solar panels mounted about five feet above the ground. “Instead of the usual two-pole structure, we used a four-pole setup to mount the panels. This leaves more space underneath for cultivation and farm work.”

With little income from their own land, Bijendra Singh Panwar and his wife, Swari Devi, work at the plant and help maintain it. Their sons, too, have moved to cities for work.

“I grow pulses and earn ₹15,000–₹20,000 a year from their sale. At the plant, I earn ₹15,000 a month,” Bijendra notes. He has enough land to consider a similar venture, but feels he is too old to take it up himself. However, he hopes his sons might explore such an opportunity.

Making the land work twice 

The agri-PV model offers a new possibility for farmland that can no longer provide a reliable livelihood. “We are generating solar power and growing crops on the same land, while also creating some employment for local people,” says Chinmay.

A 400-kW solar plant costs around ₹2 crore to set up, with a provision for a 40% subsidy from the state government. At an estimated annual generation of six lakh units and a tariff of ₹4.49 per unit, it could generate gross electricity revenue of around ₹27 lakh a year, before operating and other costs.

This would be supplemented by the cultivation of rosemary which the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Aroma Mission estimates to generate an annual profit of ₹2 lakh per hectare. While solar plants on agricultural land can create concerns about competition between food and energy production, agri-PV provides a solution by allowing cultivation beneath the panels. 

Chinmay’s project offers one such example from Uttarakhand’s hills.

A 2026 report by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) estimates that 2.8 million hectares of agricultural land in India are highly suitable for agrivoltaics with crops such as fruits, vegetables, spices and medicinal plants. The report estimates that this land could support solar power capacity of 1,192GW–2,129 GW.

Dr DK Singh, former Principal Investigator of the Centre of Excellence for Agri-PV at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-IARI), New Delhi, says shading from solar panels can affect photosynthesis and crop yields. “But if the yield decreases by 10 per cent, farmers can compensate for the loss through the income they earn from selling electricity. Shade-loving crops such as turmeric, ginger, strawberries, lemon grass and rosemary may be more suitable for cultivation beneath the panels,” he says.

The Centre is collecting data on crop yields, plant growth, and soil fertility to assess how Agri-PV affects agricultural productivity. Singh acknowledges that the high initial investment can be a barrier for small and marginal farmers. “Farmers with small landholdings can opt for lower-capacity solar plants of 20, 50, or 100 kW with government support under schemes such as PM-KUSUM. Ideally, solar panels should cover no more than 30% of their farmland. Since most farmers in India are small or marginal, this approach could improve rural electricity availability while contributing to the country’s net-zero mission.” 

Cutting the cost of irrigation

Beyond combining solar power with farming, solar energy is also helping address another challenge for farmers in Uttarakhand: the cost and emissions associated with irrigation.

In Uttarakhand’s Terai plains, particularly in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, farmers grow water-intensive crops sugarcane, wheat and paddy, including summer paddy. Many rely on electric and diesel pumps to irrigate their fields. 

Sanjay Choudhary, a farmer in Gurukul Narsan village in Haridwar district, has been using a solar pump for more than two years. He says it has reduced his electricity expenses on pumping water.

“I have around 5 acres of land. With the solar pump, I can irrigate my fields throughout the day when there is sunlight, especially during paddy cultivation. My electricity bill used to be more than ₹10,000 in the summer. That expense has come down, and the solar pump does not cause pollution during operation,” he says.

Farmers in Udham Singh Nagar also rely heavily on irrigation. Avtaar Singh Dhaliwal, who owns 16 acres of farmland in Badripur village in Bajpur block, says his irrigation costs have fallen since he started using a solar pump during the day a year ago.

“From June to September, we pump groundwater continuously for paddy irrigation, and my electricity bill used to exceed ₹25,000 over these months. We need less irrigation for wheat in winter. The solar pump has reduced our costs, but we still use an electric pump at night when needed,” he says.

A study by researchers at the ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering in Bhopal, based on 45 solar-powered irrigation systems and a survey of 225 farmers, found that solar irrigation reduced operating costs by more than 95% compared to electric and diesel pumps. It cut irrigation-related carbon emissions by more than 99% compared to grid electricity. Combining solar irrigation with crop diversification reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions by 90%.

During the study period, groundwater levels in the Gadarpur block of Udham Singh Nagar declined by an average of 0.88 metres per year.

Dr Ved Prakash Choudhary, one of the researchers and head of the Agricultural Mechanization Division at ICAR-CIAE, says farmers in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar grow water-intensive crops, particularly paddy.“Earlier, farmers often ran their pumps throughout the day and night because of frequent power cuts. With solar pumps, they have a more assured supply during daylight hours, usually from 8 am to 6 pm, so farmers pump water for fewer hours. This helps reduce groundwater extraction and emissions from electricity generation. Farmers have also saved on costs because they no longer have to pay electricity bills for this pumping or rely as much on diesel pumps when power is unavailable.”