Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, declared that integrating solar energy with farming was opening a new pathway to economic prosperity for India's agricultural communities, speaking at the inaugural session of the AgriVoltaics World Conference in New Delhi. The three-day conference brings together global stakeholders to advance the dual-use land model that places solar panels above growing crops.

Why Small Farmers Are Central to the Policy

Chouhan stressed that any AgriVoltaics policy must be designed specifically around India's 85 per cent small and marginal farmers, ensuring the technology's benefits reach those who need them most. He pointed out that India's average landholding stands at just 0.96 hectares, making it impractical for most cultivators to abandon farming entirely in favour of standalone solar installations.

'Such farmers did not have enough land to abandon cultivation and install solar power plants exclusively on their holdings,' Chouhan said. The AgriVoltaics model, he explained, resolves this constraint by enabling solar panels to generate electricity above ground while crops continue to flourish beneath them — a dual-yield approach that protects both food security and energy revenue.

FPOs, Rural Youth and Women in the Frame

The minister urged that Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) be actively incorporated into the initiative. He also called for structured training programmes for local rural youth and women in operating, repairing, and maintaining AgriVoltaics equipment — a move that, according to studies cited at the conference, could generate around 3.32 lakh full-time local jobs. These employment opportunities, Chouhan noted, would reduce rural-to-urban migration by enabling youth to find livelihoods within their own communities.

India's Agricultural and Renewable Energy Milestones

Chouhan highlighted that Indian agriculture is sustaining a robust growth rate of 4.5 per cent, and that agricultural exports have reached a record $52.55 billion. Sowing for the 2026–27 rabi season has commenced, with particular emphasis on pulses and oilseeds. Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi added that India's installed non-fossil energy capacity has crossed 308 GW, with 100 GW added in just the past two-and-a-half years. The cost of non-fossil electricity has also fallen sharply, from ₹11 per unit in 2012–13 to just ₹2.60 per unit today, driven by large-scale production.

PM-KUSUM and the Upcoming AgriVoltaics Programme

Joshi announced that the Union government will soon launch what it describes as the world's most ambitious AgriVoltaics programme under the next phase of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme. So far, 30 lakh agricultural pumps have been connected to solar energy under PM-KUSUM. Chouhan underscored the scale of the opportunity: if AgriVoltaics installations were established on just 10 per cent of suitable area, India could potentially meet its entire projected electricity demand up to 2050 through this approach alone.

What Comes Next

With the conference running for three days and global delegations in attendance, the coming sessions are expected to shape international standards and best-practice frameworks for AgriVoltaics deployment. The government's next PM-KUSUM phase details — including timelines and outlay — are awaited, and industry observers will closely track whether the rural employment targets translate into verifiable job creation on the ground.