Pakistan’s solar boom sparks water strain, fiscal woes

Pakistan’s solar boom sparks water strain, fiscal woes

Pakistan’s growing embrace of solar energy in both agriculture and rooftop generation is showing signs of stress in two critical areas: groundwater resources and government finances. Reuters reports that in Punjab province, many farmers have shifted from diesel or grid powered tube wells to solar pumps, allowing them to irrigate fields more frequently and expand water intensive crops such as rice. Farmer Karamat Ali said he sold livestock to buy…

How Solar-Powered Farming Is Pushing Pakistan Towards Water Catastrophe

The solar boom has coincided with the rapid depletion of water tables in Pakistan's most populous province, according to previously unreported Punjab water authority documents viewed by Reuters. The documents did not pinpoint any cause.

Solar-powered farming is digging Pakistan into a water catastrophe

MURIDKE, Pakistan - Karamat Ali's cows and buffalos once provided his multi-generational family with milk. But earlier this year, the 61-year-old sold about a dozen bovine - and spent the proceeds on a set of solar panels.  Read more at straitstimes.com.

Solar Power Transforms Punjab’s Agriculture but Sparks Groundwater Concerns

Karamat Ali, a 61-year-old rice farmer from Punjab, once relied on cows and buffalos to provide his multi-generational family with milk and small earnings. Earlier this year, however, he made a decision that reflects the transformation sweeping rural Pakistan. Ali sold a dozen of his cattle and invested the money in solar panels. Those panels now power his tube well, a water well fitted with a motorized pump, allowing him to irrigate his rice fi…

Solar-powered Farming Digging Pakistan Into A Water Catastrophe - Pakistan Live News

A worker installs a folding solar panel unit, to run a tube well, the motorised pump that taps groundwater, in a rice field in Muridke, Sheikhupura District in Punjab August 12, 2025. — Reuters Farmers ditching diesel, grid power for sun-powered tube wells. Water tables rapidly depleting in South Asia’s bread basket Punjab. Agriculture sector’s electricity usage to drop by 45% in three years. Karamat Ali’s cows and buffalos once provided his mu…