Agriculture to this day, is the principal source of sustenance for Bangladesh - it is not only ingrained into rural lifestyle but our culture and traditions as a whole. We have introduced new technology to maximize the fruits of this agrarian nation. These technologies have served us well until now. The world has become aware about the importance of sustainable tech; the time to tweak the traditions is here, and IDCOL has taken on this challenge.

Our agriculture was always very nature dependent. Our farmers waited for monsoon when there was an abundance of water. However, as time passed the population rose and with it came the need to work beyond natures schedules and produce crops even during dry seasons. This demand drove our farmers to employ modem irrigation technologies like diesel and electric pumps. Presently, the country has 1.34 million diesel pumps and 0.27 million electric pumps. While they have made our farmers’ lives much easier, they come at a great cost. The diesel-run pumps consume 1 million tons of diesels worth $900 million per year, with the government providing subsidy of $280 to keep the diesel affordable for farmers. Matters are made worse during peak season by dishonest middlemen who hoard diesel to artificially run the price up. Meanwhile, the electricity-run pumps consume about 1500MW electricity per year. But that's only for on-grid areas; the off-grid areas have no access to the deep wells because it requires great power to extract water from such depths leaving them with the expensive alternative that is diesel-pumps.lt turns out that a farmer has to pay Tk. 3000 - Tk. 4000 for each bigha (local unit of land) of land as irrigation charge during crop season.And under the circumstances of political instabilities and natural calamities, the farmers have to pay the price. But with the right technology, all this can change. This is where IDCOL comes in.

IDCOL invests in environmentally sustainable infrastructure to set the course of development straight. The problems mentioned above can be overcome easily if we can harness the endless power of the sun - and thus, the Solar Irrigation System program is being introduced to farmers all over the country by IDCOL and other bodies with aligned interests. Till now, IDCOL has approved 198 solar irrigation pumps, with 55 of them already operational and the rest under the implementation phase.The pumps can supply up to 6 lakh litres of water daily which can irrigate 1500 decimal of land for paddy and 3500 decimal of land for vegetables each season. As for costs, a farmer can now irrigate a bigha of land within Tk. 2500 - Tk. 2800 which in comparison to existing methods is Tk. 500 - Tk. 1800 lesser. With the solar irrigation pump in place, the average farmer can now do away with all the complications they would otherwise face and make agriculture a more financially viable means of earning a living.

The solar irrigation system in that sense can not only reduce carbon emission but can save millions in foreign currency. Given the immense potential of solar irrigation system, the programme aims to install solar PV-based irrigation systems and replace the diesel-based systems in off-grid areas where there are possibilities to produce three types of crops throughout the year, all the while staying safe from flooding, arsenic contamination and saline water. To work towards this end, IDCOL has now set a target of installing 1,550 solar irrigation pumps by 2017.

Now the question arises, how can someone bring themselves under this programme? An individual who is interested in this program needs to have a sponsor. The sponsor is basically an entrepreneur who wants to invest in and profit from agricultural business.The entrepreneur will assess the viability of the project and will send the application for financial assistance to IDCOL on the farmer's behalf. IDCOL, in turn, will provide financial support to the farmer; 40% of the total cost will come as subsidy or grant, 20% has to be from existing capital, and the rest 40% will come in the form of a loan with a long-term interest rate of 6%.

Solar-powered irrigation systems are gaining popularity owing to IDCOL’s cost-effective financing and innovative business model. There are many other programmes undertaken by IDCOL including sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy, telecommunications, power and fuel saving projects, all under the mission to propagate sustainable development of Bangladesh.