How Did Sustainable Water Solutions Enable Economic Growth And Prosperity For Kashmir Valley Farmers

The Situation

Horticulture is one of the major economic drivers of the Kashmir valley as the soil and prevailing climatic conditions help farmers produce tasty, healthy, and quality fruits. However, since the plantations are in remote locations within the valley, critical farming support aspects like access to water and electricity remained unstable. Additionally, the extreme cold and snow conditions disrupt the power supply, leading to periodic power breakdowns for 4-5 hours everytime, despit the government's valiant efforts to provide solutions. 

Relying on traditional methods of getting water through electric motors is not feasible as there is no steady and stable electricity supply. As a result, inconsistent and unreliable water supply affected the plantations severely and reaping a good harvest became practically impossible for farmers.

The Solution

Being an innovation focused company with an unwavering social commitment, Grundfos along with its channel partner M/s. SIAB Surgiments understood the challenges faced by the farmers involved in fruit farming and worked out a sustainable solution. The key focus was to provide continous availability of water without relying on traditional electricity sources, to ensure uninterrupted irrigation support to the plantations. 

Grundfos installed a 5KV solar powered system with PV modules, pump, controller, and optional storage tank, combined with highly reliable Grundfos solar pump which can work without any inverter or batteries thereby eliminating all complexities. 

Outcome

• Continous and reliable supply of 25000 litres of water per day that is more than sufficient for the 20 hectare orchid farm.
• Uninterrupted running of the pump ensures non-stop water supply during daytime.