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Bangladesh’s groundwater trade-offs from decarbonizing irrigation through solar-powered pumps

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Abstract

Solar-powered irrigation systems are being scaled globally, especially in South Asia, to mitigate agriculture’s carbon emissions while addressing water–energy–food nexus challenges. However, this expansion raises concerns that solar irrigation could exacerbate groundwater overexploitation. Here we assess groundwater trade-offs of solar irrigation deployment in Bangladesh by comparing farmers’ water use for dry season paddy cultivation under diesel pumps and a solarized fee-for-service model. After accounting for soil, variety, land type and sowing time, no significant difference in terms of water application was found between solar (694–1,014 mm) and diesel (663–775 mm) plots in 2021–22 and 2022–23. A marginal 4.2 percentage point increase in dry season paddy area was observed under solar irrigation. Groundwater modelling shows solar irrigation has minimal regional impact, though risks arise if water use and dry-season area increase significantly. These results provide empirical evidence of changes in farmers’ water use after the transition to solar irrigation, but they are highly context-specific. Further research and tailored policies—such as water-saving practices, volumetric pricing, targeted scaling and smart subsidies—will ensure sustainable solar irrigation upscaling.

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Fig. 1: Location of the study region in northwest Bangladesh.
Fig. 2: Irrigation water application.
Fig. 3: The groundwater model reliably simulates seasonal groundwater trends.
Fig. 4: Spatial variation in the groundwater head changes at the end of the scenario modelling period (May 2015, with regard to the 2006 baseline) in northwest Bangladesh.
Fig. 5: Extent of the study region in northwest Bangladesh, bounded by the Padma, Yamuna and Teesta rivers in the south, east and northeast, respectively, used for setting up the regional numerical groundwater model.

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Data availability

The data supporting the findings of this study are available via figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30123757.v1 (ref. 47). For household survey data, refer to ref. 48.

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Acknowledgements

This article was made possible through support provided by the Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. We thank the team from IDCOL, NGO Forum for Public Health and all the farmers who participated in our study, without whom this research would not have been possible.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Water Management Institute, Delhi, India

    Mohammad Faiz Alam, Archisman Mitra, Smaranika Mahapatra & Alok Sikka

  2. International Water Management Institute, Vientiane, Laos

    Paul Pavelic

  3. International Water Management Institute, Pelawatte, Sri Lanka

    Marie-Charlotte Buisson

  4. NGO Forum for Public Health, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Ahasan Habib, Tonmoy Kumer Saha & Abdul Haque

Authors

  1. Mohammad Faiz Alam
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  2. Archisman Mitra
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  3. Smaranika Mahapatra
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  5. Marie-Charlotte Buisson
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  6. Ahasan Habib
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Contributions

Conceptualization: M.F.A., A.M., P.P., A.S. and M.-C.B. Methodology: M.F.A., A.M., P.P., A.S. and M.-C.B. Data curation: M.F.A., A.M. and S.M. Investigation: A. Haque, A. Habib, and T.K.S. Visualization: M.F.A., A.M. and S.M. Supervision: P.P., A.S. and M.-C.B. Writing—original draft: M.F.A., A.M. and S.M. Writing—review and editing: P.P., M-C.B., A.S., A. Haque, A. Habib and T.K.S.

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Mohammad Faiz Alam.

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Nature Water thanks Simon Meunier, Lucie Pluschke and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Alam, M.F., Mitra, A., Mahapatra, S. et al. Bangladesh’s groundwater trade-offs from decarbonizing irrigation through solar-powered pumps.
Nat Water (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-025-00534-4

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