Irrigation in Bangladesh relies heavily on diesel-powered groundwater pumps. Solar irrigation pumping systems (SIPS) have expanded, but adoption is still held back by low farmer awareness, weak financing linkages, and capacity gaps among DAE’s frontline Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers (SAAOs). The workshop was the first in-person session of a multi-tier training program. It brought together 30 participants (9 women and 21 men), including SAAOs, agriculture engineers and NGO representatives from Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, and Kurigram districts.
DAE’s own agriculture engineers and its project director (Solar) led the technical sessions. They covered solar panel and pump types, system selection and installation, operation and maintenance, irrigation system design, water-saving technologies such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD), and inclusive solar irrigation. Participants worked in six groups to identify local obstacles to scaling up, such as access to finance, availability of technicians, and farmer awareness. They also visited an operating solar irrigation site in Kaunia Upazila and talked with farmers, the landowner, and the pump operator. Evaluations before and after the training measured what participants learned.
This workshop report documents a two-day capacity-building event held from August 19–20, 2026 at the Additional Director’s Office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rangpur, Bangladesh. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) organized this workshop with DAE under the Solar Energy for Agricultural Resilience (SoLAR) Phase II project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
