Small farmers from remote rural pockets of agro-climatic zone 7 lack affordable, reliable irrigation, limiting crop yields and incomes.

1. High Dependency on Erratic Rainfall: Most farmers rely on monsoon rains, leading to single-crop farming and large fallow periods, especially during rabi and zaid seasons.
2. Limited Access to Irrigation Infrastructure: Only 35–40% of cultivated land has irrigation access in off-monsoon seasons. Existing infrastructure like canals from the Massanjore Dam often doesn't reach upland or marginal plots, particularly those of tribal farmers.
3. Reliance on Costly, Unsustainable Diesel Pumps: Diesel-based irrigation is expensive and environmentally damaging. The high fuel cost is a barrier for small and marginal farmers, and it contributes to carbon emissions.
4. Groundwater Over-extraction: Conventional borewell irrigation leads to unsustainable groundwater depletion, further straining water availability.
5. Fragmented Land Holdings: Small, scattered plots make it difficult to set up permanent irrigation systems, necessitating mobile and flexible solutions.
6. Lack of Community Coordination: In the absence of collective management structures like Water User Groups (WUGs), resource distribution and system maintenance become difficult.
7. Low Awareness and Exposure to Clean Technologies: Farmers often lack exposure to successful solar irrigation models and are unfamiliar with how such systems operate or benefit them.
8. Financial Constraints: Upfront capital investment for irrigation systems is beyond the reach of most marginal farmers, making affordable, service-based or shared models essential.
9. Inadequate Market Linkages: Even with improved irrigation, farmers face hurdles in accessing markets for high-value crops, which reduces incentives to invest in improved agricultural practices.

These hurdles underscore the need for mobile, solar-powered, community-managed irrigation systems that are economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and scalable.