IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i11p6834-d830790.html

Socio-Economic and Environmental Analyses of Solar Irrigation Systems for Sustainable Agricultural Production

Author

Listed:
  • Charmaine Samala Guno

    (College of Teacher Education, Mindoro State University, Calapan City 5200, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines)

  • Casper Boongaling Agaton

    (Department of Community and Environmental Resource Planning, College of Human Ecology, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Los Baños 4031, Laguna, Philippines)

Abstract

Solar irrigation is a climate mitigation technology to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agricultural production. Despite its potential, small-scale farmers are unable to afford photovoltaic (PV) systems and resort to using the traditional diesel-powered pumps for irrigation. This study aims to analyze the social, economic, and environmental aspects of introducing solar irrigation systems from the perspective of small-scale farmers in developing countries. Applying socio-economic and environmental analyses to the case of the Philippines, the study found the environmental benefits of solar irrigation in terms of the reduction in GHG emissions of up to 26.5 tons CO 2 eq/ha/year and the avoidance of emissions of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter. The energy savings between 11.36 and 378.54 L/ha of diesel per year resulted in a range of −USD 1255/ha to USD 68,582/ha net present value, 30% to 2958% with an average of 315% returns on investment, and 0.3 to 30 years payback period with an average of 2.88 years. Regardless of the low awareness of environmental sustainability, most farmers were interested to invest in solar irrigation systems with 69% social acceptance, while the 26% were not interested as they consume a minimal amount of fuel and cannot recover the high investment from the cost savings. This study provided policy recommendations to make solar irrigation accessible to small-scale farmers as well as broader implications to make the agricultural sector more sustainable.

Suggested Citation

  • Charmaine Samala Guno & Casper Boongaling Agaton, 2022. "Socio-Economic and Environmental Analyses of Solar Irrigation Systems for Sustainable Agricultural Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:11:p:6834-:d:830790
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/11/6834/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/11/6834/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:iwt:jounls:h048620 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Rahman, Syed Mahbubur & Mori, Akihisa & Rahman, Syed Mustafizur, 2022. "How does climate adaptation co-benefits help scale-up solar-powered irrigation? A case of the Barind Tract, Bangladesh," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 1039-1048.
    3. Lavinia Javier Cueto & April Faith Deleon Frisnedi & Reynaldo Baculio Collera & Kenneth Ian Talosig Batac & Casper Boongaling Agaton, 2022. "Digital Innovations in MSMEs during Economic Disruptions: Experiences and Challenges of Young Entrepreneurs," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, January.
    4. Faakhar Raza & Muhammad Tamoor & Sajjad Miran & Waseem Arif & Tayybah Kiren & Waseem Amjad & Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain & Gwi-Hyun Lee, 2022. "The Socio-Economic Impact of Using Photovoltaic (PV) Energy for High-Efficiency Irrigation Systems: A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-21, February.
    5. Casper Boongaling Agaton & Angelie Azcuna Collera & Charmaine Samala Guno, 2020. "Socio-Economic and Environmental Analyses of Sustainable Public Transport in the Philippines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, June.
    6. Kwofie, E.M. & Ngadi, M., 2017. "A review of rice parboiling systems, energy supply, and consumption," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 465-472.
    7. repec:iwt:jounls:h050433 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Rana, Jaber & Kamruzzaman, M. & Hosain Oliver, Moinul & Akhi, Kaynath, 2021. "Financial and factors demand analysis of solar powered irrigation system in Boro rice production: A case study in Meherpur district of Bangladesh," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 433-439.
    9. Agaton, Casper, 2017. "Real Options Analysis of Renewable Energy Investment Scenarios in the Philippines," MPRA Paper 83478, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Lefore, Nicole & Closas, Alvar & Schmitter, Petra, 2021. "Solar for all: A framework to deliver inclusive and environmentally sustainable solar irrigation for smallholder agriculture," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Casper Boongaling Agaton, 2022. "Will a Geopolitical Conflict Accelerate Energy Transition in Oil-Importing Countries? A Case Study of the Philippines from a Real Options Perspective," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Bhattarai, Dipendra & Fishman, Ram & Lamichhane, Nabina & Mukherji, Aditi, 2025. "Targeted finance and the adoption of solar irrigation by smallholder and women farmers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    3. Terang, Bharat & Baruah, Debendra Chandra, 2023. "Techno-economic and environmental assessment of solar photovoltaic, diesel, and electric water pumps for irrigation in Assam, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    4. World Bank, 2024. "Energizing Rwanda’s Development," World Bank Publications - Reports 42149, The World Bank Group.
    5. Héctor Fernández Rodríguez & Miguel Ángel Pardo, 2023. "A Study of the Relevant Parameters for Converting Water Supply to Small Towns in the Province of Alicante to Systems Powered by Photovoltaic Solar Panels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ihsan Ullah & Nawab Khan & Yonghong Dai & Amir Hamza, 2023. "Does Solar-Powered Irrigation System Usage Increase the Technical Efficiency of Crop Production? New Insights from Rural Areas," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Buisson, Marie-Charlotte & Mitra, Archisman & Hounsa, Thierry & Habib, Md. Ahasan & Mukherji, Aditi, 2024. "A place in the sun: Farmers' co-benefits from solar irrigation in Bangladesh," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    3. Varshney, Deepak & Mukherji, Aditi & Sharma, Kriti & Banerjee, Anurag & Sikka, Alok, 2026. "Solar irrigation and just energy transitions in agriculture: Insights from evaluation of Gujarat's SKY program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    4. Majah-Leah V. Ravago & Renzi G. Frias, 2025. "Towards a Sustainable Public Transport: Finding a Niche to Build Electric Vehicle Industry," Millennial Asia, , vol. 16(3), pages 452-471, September.
    5. Kowsar, Abu & Hassan, Mahedi & Rana, Md Tasnim & Haque, Nawshad & Faruque, Md Hasan & Ahsan, Saifuddin & Alam, Firoz, 2023. "Optimization and techno-economic assessment of 50 MW floating solar power plant on Hakaluki marsh land in Bangladesh," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    6. Charli Sitinjak & Rozmi Ismail & Zurinah Tahir & Rizqon Fajar & Wiyanti Fransisca Simanullang & Edward Bantu & Karuhanga Samuel & Rosniza Aznie Che Rose & Muhamad Razuhanafi Mat Yazid & Zambri Harun, 2022. "Acceptance of ELV Management: The Role of Social Influence, Knowledge, Attitude, Institutional Trust, and Health Issues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    7. Faruque As Sunny & Linlin Fu & Md Sadique Rahman & Zuhui Huang, 2022. "Determinants and Impact of Solar Irrigation Facility (SIF) Adoption: A Case Study in Northern Bangladesh," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Gaspay, Sandy Mae & Salison, Arse John & Sunio, Varsolo & Stringer, Thomas, 2025. "Driving change: Lessons on electrification within the modernization of jeepneys in the Philippines," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    9. Sanjoy Kumar Saha, 2024. "Assessing the impact of rural electrification on economic growth: a comprehensive analysis considering informal economy and income inequality in Bangladesh," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 551-583, June.
    10. Fanta Barry & Marie Sawadogo & Maïmouna Bologo (Traoré) & Igor W. K. Ouédraogo & Thomas Dogot, 2021. "Key Barriers to the Adoption of Biomass Gasification in Burkina Faso," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-14, June.
    11. Edward B. Barbier, 2023. "Overcoming digital poverty traps in rural Asia," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1403-1420, August.
    12. Huang, Yongming & Abbas, Qaiser & Sharif, Muhammad, 2025. "Addressing agricultural energy poverty to enhance farmers' profitability and productivity: Policy interventions for global food security challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    13. Armando Cartenì & Ilaria Henke & Clorinda Molitierno & Luigi Di Francesco, 2020. "Strong Sustainability in Public Transport Policies: An e-Mobility Bus Fleet Application in Sorrento Peninsula (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    14. Casper Boongaling Agaton, 2022. "Will a Geopolitical Conflict Accelerate Energy Transition in Oil-Importing Countries? A Case Study of the Philippines from a Real Options Perspective," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, June.
    15. Abigail A. Aryeh-Adjei & Kofi Koranteng Adu & Ama Otwiwah Adu-Marfo & Goldman Awuku, 2025. "Digital technology use and adoption in informal entrepreneurship: evidence from Okere District, Ghana," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-33, December.
    16. Mebratu Negera & Zeleke Agide Dejen & Dagmawi Melaku & Desalegn Tegegne & Muluken Elias Adamseged & Amare Haileslassie, 2025. "Agricultural Productivity of Solar Pump and Water Harvesting Irrigation Technologies and Their Impacts on Smallholder Farmers’ Income and Food Security: Evidence from Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-32, February.
    17. Qi Song & Xiaohong Chen & Hao Gu, 2023. "How Technological, Organizational, and Environmental Factors Drive Enterprise Digital Innovation: Analysis Based on the Dynamic FsQCA Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-22, August.
    18. Elisabeth A. Shrimpton & Nazmiye Balta-Ozkan, 2024. "A Systematic Review of Socio-Technical Systems in the Water–Energy–Food Nexus: Building a Framework for Infrastructure Justice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-20, July.
    19. Tiyamike Ngonda & Richard Nkhoma & Virginia Ngonda, 2023. "Perceptions of Solar Photovoltaic System Adopters in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case of Adopters in Ntchisi, Malawi," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-13, October.
    20. Barbier, Edward B., 2025. "Greening agriculture for rural development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:11:p:6834-:d:830790. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.