Farmers in Haryana are turning to energy conservation by shifting to ISI/star-rated pump sets in place of the traditional ones. The state government that has floated a scheme for energy conservation in agriculture is providing financial assistance at the rate of Rs 400 per horse power to farmers.
The subsidy can be availed on installation of new pump sets as well as replacing the old ones with ISI mark/or at least four star-rated pump sets in tube wells.
An official from the renewable energy department of Haryana told FE that up to March 2009 nearly 4,056 tube wells were upgraded by installing ISI pump sets under the scheme. Financial assistance of Rs 1.76 crore has been provided. ?A provision of providing assistance of Rs 92.50 lakh has been made for the current fiscal year under the scheme,? the official said. ?Since majority of farmers use locally made pumps rather than ISI marked/star rated pump sets, they consume more electricity. But about 30-35% electricity could be saved by replacing these pump sets with ISI marked/star rated ones and by installing the optimum capacity pump sets.?
He explained that 10-15% electricity could be saved if farmers install ISI marked reflex valve or replace steel pipe of rough surface with RPVC pipe. Using long bend in place of 90-degree sharp bend and by keeping the delivery pipe at a height of three feet from ground level also help save power.
Farmers had to bear additional costs to replace/repair burnout motors, which occurred frequently due to overloading of feeders, long length of undersized secondary lines and poor selection and installation of electrical motor pump sets. This also caused high line losses and large voltage drops. Farmers used to install motors of higher capacity for higher water flow rate that resulted in overloading of feeders. ?But with farmers shifting to ISI/star-rated pump sets, such incidents have reduced,? said the official.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has initiated an agricultural demand-side management programme in Haryana to upgrade efficiency of pump sets through the PPP mode in Kaithal and Kurukshetra districts. Schneider Electric Conzerv India and PricewaterhouseCoopers have been selected for providing consulting services for successful implementation of this programme.
