Once Monsoon-Dependent, This Jharkhand Woman Farmer Now Earns Rs 3 Lakh a Year, Thanks to Solar Irrigation

Just after sunrise in Murudih village of Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district, the first thing you notice on Vimla Mahata’s 2.5-acre farm is the glint of sunlight bouncing off a line of solar panels. As the panels warm, the solar lift irrigation system hums to life, pulling water uphill and sending it flowing across her fields.

Advertisment

Add The Better India As A Trusted Source

• Stories
• Visual Stories

Standing beside the pump, 43-year-old Vimla watches the water rush in, a sight she once thought she would never see in her lifetime. 

Today, her land, which lay dry for most of the year, is covered with watermelon vines, bottle gourd creepers, and rows of vegetables. Each crop is nourished with the help of real-time soil data.

Neighbours often stop by to watch her work.

“Every day someone comes to learn, either about crop health or fertilisers or techniques,” Vimla says, smiling with pride. “And each time, I feel like something in my life has truly changed.”

A life lived in scarcity

Until a few years ago, Vimla’s life looked very different. She and her husband, Hiralal, along with their two children, struggled to get by on his daily wage income. “Everything was difficult. We had to think hard just to survive,” Hiralal tells The Better India.

Hiralal remembers those years clearly. Their village had no proper roads, water remained scarce, and frequent power cuts made farming uncertain. Their 2.5 acres depended entirely on the monsoon. With no irrigation facilities, the family could grow only one paddy crop each year. For the remaining months, the soil dried and cracked. Incomes fell, and worry became a constant presence in their home. 

“I felt really bad, thinking how we would support our family and pay our children’s school fees,” Vimla shares.

Despite the strain, Vimla carried a deep love for learning. She held a bachelor’s degree and believed that her land could offer more, if only she found a way to work with it differently.

Finding confidence through a women’s collective

In 2016, Vimla took her first step toward that dream by joining Juhi Mahila Mandal, a women’s Self-Help Group (SHG) in Murudih, under the Aajeevika Gram Sangathan and the Sangrampur Cluster Level Federation. 

Through the SHG meetings, she learnt about savings, credit, and livelihood programmes, which slowly built her confidence. But one thing still weighed on her — her barren land and the need to revive it.

Around this time, Vimla was introduced to farmer training sessions supported by Transform Rural India (TRI), an organisation working with the Jharkhand government to strengthen rural livelihoods. Here, she first discovered modern, climate-resilient farming practices such as drip irrigation, crop planning, soil health management, and most importantly, solar lift irrigation.

“It was in 2017 when I first heard about the concept,” Vimla recalls. “It sounded almost unreal, but I decided to take a chance, hoping things might change. To my surprise, they did.”

When water finally reached her field

A solar lift irrigation system uses solar-powered pumps to draw water from rivers, ponds, or wells and deliver it directly to the fields. The system removes dependence on electricity and diesel, ensuring a steady and eco-friendly water supply throughout the year.

For farmers like Vimla, this means reliable irrigation, lower costs, and the freedom to grow crops beyond the monsoon season.

Before the system was installed, Vimla’s days began at 4 am. She cleaned the house, cooked meals, and prepared her children for school before turning to farm work.

But the arrival of the solar lift irrigation system marked a turning point. 

Vimla contributed Rs 10,000 as her share, a decision made with courage and supported by her husband, her training, and encouragement from the SHGs.

For the first time, water flowed across Vimla’s land without diesel pumps, without long walks to fetch it, and without waiting for the rain to arrive. She stood there and watched, taking it in.

“Seeing water reach my farm for the first time felt like a dream,” she says.

Through training sessions and workshops with TRI, Vimla and her husband learnt more than new techniques. They also began to rethink how they used water and labour on their farm. “Earlier, we only did johar cultivation (traditional rain-fed farming),” Vimla explains. “Now, with training, we save water as well as labour.”

Hiralal stands beside her, not just as a partner in farming, but as someone who has watched the land change their lives. “I used to keep thinking what we would do with this barren land,” he says. “Now, when I look at it, it feels like a temple to me.”

A bold decision that changed everything

Now that water had reached her fields, Vimla decided to take another risk. 

In February 2022, instead of sowing the paddy crop like usual, she planted watermelon and cucumber crops. She had never grown them before. She invested Rs 21,000 in seeds and inputs, hoping to recover her costs.

What happened next surprised the entire village.

In just four months, she earned nearly Rs 3 lakh with a net profit of around Rs 2 lakh.

“It changed everything,” she says. “I felt like I could finally support my children’s education, manage the household, and even help with my sister-in-law’s wedding. For the first time, I could plan for the future.”

Bringing science into the soil

But the success didn’t make Vimla complacent; it made her even more curious. In the following season, she diversified further, growing bitter gourd, bottle gourd, and pumpkin. Once again, her earnings crossed Rs 3 lakh.

Around this time, TRI introduced her to soil sensors, a tool many farmers in the region were seeing for the first time.

Earlier, Vimla depended on experience and guesswork. Now, she could access real-time data on moisture levels, soil nutrients, and irrigation needs. “It reduces labour and saves water,” she says.

Today, the soil sensor is part of her daily routine. Vimla checks the data, plans irrigation, adjusts fertilisers, and uses the information to guide other farmers who visit her fields.

From farmer to role model

With her annual income now crossing Rs 3 lakh, Vimla has become one of the most successful women farmers in her region. But if you ask her what she is most proud of, she does not talk about money.

“I feel so proud when people come to learn from me,” she says.

Her home has become a place of constant learning. Women farmers often stop by to ask about crop cycles, fertilisers, soil health, and new farming technologies.

“My dream is to keep improving,” Vimla says. “To educate my children well and to show that women farmers can do anything.”

A wider change taking root in Jharkhand

Vimla’s story is part of a change taking shape across Jharkhand.

Through SHGs, government schemes, and organisations such as TRI, farmers are gaining access to reliable irrigation, modern farming practices, and practical tools. Drip irrigation, protected cultivation, soil sensors, and crop diversification are slowly replacing uncertainty with planning.

For many families, this shift has meant the difference between waiting for the monsoon and being able to farm through the year.

TRI coordinator Prafull Kumar Mahto has seen this change up close.

“For our farmers, this technology has been a real gift,” he says. “It has given them control over their land and their livelihoods.”

At present, around 20 to 25 farmers have been trained under TRI’s solar lift irrigation system. Through initiatives such as the PM Kusum Yojana, TRI is also supporting the installation of solar panels in households, with the aim of expanding the model across Jharkhand and eventually other parts of the country.

Prafull remembers how difficult the early days were.

“Earlier, farmers depended on oil-based machines that were expensive and unreliable,” he says. “Convincing people to trust new technology took time. This village has lived through deep poverty. Today, with agri-tech and science, we are irrigating more land and improving livelihoods.”

In a region with nearly 29,000 households, TRI reaches close to 70 percent each year through programmes such as Krishi Sakhi and Kheti Net House.

In places once shaped entirely by the uncertainty of rainfall, agri-tech now allows off-season cultivation, lowers costs, and improves both nutrition and income stability for tribal and rural families.

For Vimla, these changes show up in small, everyday ways. They are there when she walks into her fields and knows the water will come.

The harvest brought more than money home. Vimla no longer waits and worries through the year. She plans, prepares, and looks forward. In villages like hers, that feeling is beginning to spread.

All images courtesy Transform Rural India