Solar energy shows the way to Kalikiri farmer

Tirupati: An educated farmer thought different and found a way out for the utilization of solar energy for his farming needs. Hailing from an agricultural family, with many constraints he completed engineering graduation and harnessed renewable energy sources for uninterrupted farming. K Prabhakar Reddy had seen the pains of hundreds of farmers in his native village, Sanyasivandlapalle in Kalikiri mandal in Chittoor district in providing water to crops. At last, he took a bold decision to cultivate crops at any cost and with the help of friends he had decided to install solar energy plant for uninterrupted cultivation. Speaking to media persons, he said,at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh, he brought 22 solar plates to generate power for the needs of paddy, mango and 'Sapota' (Chickoo) crops in his 10 acre farm. But the generated power is DC and the submersible pump set installed for deep bore well works only on AC power and there is a need for an inverter to convert DC to AC, which will cost about Rs 1.2 lakh, he said. With the help of his friends, he made specialized equipment, Viable Frequency Driver, at a cost of Rs 60,000 for converting DC to AC as per the needs of submersible pump set. As an experiment, he installed this at his house in Hyderabad for eight days, where it was proved successful. After studying all drawbacks, the entire equipment shifted to his field. "Though the initial investment is a costly affair the farmers need not worry about power cuts and power bills," he said. With the initiative he was able to get yield throughout the year without any hurdles, he said. After seeing this arrangement, farmers of his village came to his field and decided to install the equipment in their fields. Nagendar Reddy, a neighbour said that if the government provides subsidy, this will be useful for all farmers. Since it is the constituency represented by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, the farmers are hopeful of financial assistance for solar energy utilization.