LI-BIRD, with financial support from EKOenergy ecolabel – Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, and in collaboration with SOSEC Nepal, initiated the project “Improving Livelihoods of Rural Communities through the Establishment of Solar-based Lift Irrigation Scheme”. The project was implemented at Pali Village, Ward no. 3, Dullu Municipality of Dailekh district in Karnali Province. The area of implementation was located 6 kilometers away from the local Dullu Bazar, with no access to the national electricity grid. Studying the area, it was found that the soil there was productive; however, water for irrigation was the major limiting factor to improving local food production. So, a solar-based lift irrigation scheme was proposed, which was designed to pump and discharge 50,000 liters of water per day at a vertical head of 450 m, which required two submersible pumps, each with 17.5 HP capacity.

For supplying the required power, the irrigation scheme used 84 solar panels, each with 410 W capacity. Considering the vertical head, the scheme was designed to construct two water collection tanks, each with 20,000 liters and 30,000 liters capacity for water storage and distribution. The feasibility study of the scheme was carried out, along with the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR). The DPR showed that the scheme could irrigate approximately 30 hectares of land year-round, benefiting over 245 households, of which 90 households were either Dalits or from ethnic minority communities. After the feasibility study, the project introduced other relevant CSA technologies and practices and built the capacity of target communities to boost food production and income in the area.