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Solar irrigation in Bangladesh: a situation analysis report

This report presents a synthesis of Bangladesh’s solar irrigation policies, highlights the current issues faced by the energy and groundwater sector in the context of solar irrigation, and describes how the SDC-SoLAR (Swiss Development Corporation-Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience) project led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) aims to navigate these complex issues through its research activities. Bangladesh achieved self-sufficiency in food grains production due to the steady agricultural growth in the 1990s and 2000s, which was made possible through the proliferation of high-yielding paddy varieties and expansion of small-scale groundwater irrigation.