ISLAMABAD: Use of renewable energy in agriculture can cut costs, reports WealthPK on Saturday, quoting energy experts
Growing demand for food and unstable prices of energy products have led to search for cheap and sustainable sources of energy.
Energy is one of the major input costs that a farmer bears. Energy provision affects production and livelihoods, especially with the advance of mechanization in agriculture.
Huge amounts of oil and gas are used as input and energy in the production of fertilisers and pesticides, and readily available energy at all stages of food production: from planting, irrigation, feeding, and harvesting, to processing, distribution, and packaging, according to WealthPK.
According to the Energy Year Book 2019, the agriculture sector has consumed 814,519 tons of oil equivalent (TOE) which is approximately 1.48% of total energy (54.9 MTOE) by using both oil and electricity.
Around 9% of electricity was used by the agriculture sector in FY20-21. The agricultural sector provides the majority of employment in Pakistan, especially among the poorest segments of the population.
A huge portion of the energy is used in the form of oil, diesel, or electricity.
Most farm machines are driven by fossil fuels, which contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and, in turn, accelerate climate change.
According to USAID, Pakistan’s agricultural sector contributes around 41 percent to GHG emissions. Such environmental damage can be mitigated by the promotion of renewable resources such as solar, wind, biomass, tidal, geothermal, small-scale hydro, and biofuels.
These renewable resources have a huge potential for the agricultural industry. According to the Pakistan Journal of Agriculture Research seen by WealthPK, only 0.2% of total available renewable energy is used, whereas 99.8% of non-renewable energy is used in agricultural practices e.g. for the production of fertilizers (38.5%), water pumping (5.1%), and farm machinery (56.2%), WealthPK reported.
Assistant Professor Khurram Mubeen with the Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture, Multan, told WealthPK that almost 56 million acres of land is irrigated through groundwater.
He said in a statement that solar tube wells have been installed in some parts of the country to extract groundwater.
Due to poor groundwater quality, agricultural land becomes unfit for cultivation, so there is a need to shift towards solar or other renewable energy sources in the agricultural sector but also a need to consider the issues that arise due to solar energy.
In many areas of Pakistan, people have installed solar tube wells to extract groundwater, but the land is degraded due to poor water quality.
A large area of Pakistan is irrigated through the Rod Kohi system. Under Rod Kohi, a large amount of water is wasted due to lack of storage facilities. Pakistan could fulfill its water needs by improving storage facilities, Khurram Mubeen added. -INP
