**7. Challenges of agrovoltaic irrigation system**

In Pakistan, the alternative energy development board (AEDB) has been actively involved in developing and promoting renewable energy technologies because of the massive resource potential across the country. For solar-driven technologies, the region is envisaged as highly feasible. In this spectrum, various megaprojects are being executed with collaborative efforts. One can find the details of these projects on the official website of the AEDB. In 2015, the federal government of Pakistan takes initiative to subsidize the farmers having cultivated areas greater than 5 hectares for the installation of solar-driven irrigation pumps under the project entitles solar irrigation for agricultural resilience (SoLAR). The project's worth was USD 93.2 million, providing an 80% subsidy for installing 30,000 solar irrigation pumps. However, there no such schemes/policies are being designed for AVIS despite its enormous potential. The challenges could be in the form of economic barriers, nonavailability of technical and skilled personnel, and technological barriers. In this section, the authors analyzed the potential challenges that need to ponder in order to develop successful AVIS.

#### **7.1 Lack of awareness**

Agrovoltaic itself is an emerging conception so far investigated in developed countries and possesses plenty of room for technical improvements. Lack of awareness regarding the new energy-water efficient AVIS is the potential bottleneck [9]. The farmers are not informed of relevant cost/economic, environmental benefits, and the potential barriers that need to be encountered for the concept implementation. In addition, the farmers hesitated to invest in emerging technologies due to their limited resources. The leading researchers need to execute the small projects on a university scale in order to develop local knowledge relevant to technology. After that, dissemination activities are performed to spread awareness among the farmers. It is imperative that there be a centralized information hub with a single point of contact for quick and simple access to AVIS data that is made available to all farmers in each and every district.

#### **7.2 Lack of skilled workforce**

The shortage of qualified and experienced installation workers, project managers, and engineers in both developing and developed countries is a significant barrier to the growth of AVIS. Likewise, In Pakistan, lack of qualified and semiskilled personnel has hampered the widespread use of the AVIS. This leads to inadequate support infrastructure, maintenance, and after-sales services, which significantly impacts farmers' opinions on AVIS adaptability. In addition, the farmers are not technically trained to operate and understand the complex operating mechanism of the AVIS. In this framework, training facilities that give technical expertise to farmers must be established in each area. Furthermore, short-term courses and vocational training courses must be established in order to develop a job-ready trained workforce.

#### **7.3 Risk of declining groundwater**

Recent studies reveal that groundwater is declining at a higher pace in the Indus plains of Pakistan due to climate change, low surface water supplies, installation of large-scale tube wells, over-exploitation, and lack of groundwater governance policies [29, 81, 82]. Although, farmers' access to groundwater benefited them to ensure food security and accomplished agriculture requirements. However, many farmers pump groundwater beyond their agriculture requirements thereby massive pressure, which leads to a declining groundwater table. For instance, Shakoor et al. [83] reveal that if the historical trend of groundwater pumping continues, the water table in Punjab might drop up to 18 m by 2030. Similarly in Balochistan, the groundwater is depleted at the rate of 2–3 m annually [82]. The lowering groundwater table is required to install high-capacity pumps due to depreciation of pumping efficiency beyond the depth of 500 cm [84]. In addition, if standalone solar-driven irrigation pumping systems are installed then there is fear of a more rapid drawdown of groundwater due to the assumption of being increasing pumping by the farmers. However, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) analyzed that actual solar energy is not capable to exploit the groundwater reserves through solar pumping, irrespective of considering the influential factors such as installation capacity and farmer behavior thereby not widely accepted [21]. The AVIS could be a potential solution to the stated problem in a manner of harvesting free solar energy and pumping the groundwater according to crop water requirement. The AVIS motor switches off the irrigation system once the field requirements are fulfilled.

#### **8. Conclusions**

Energizing the agro-food supply chain and access to sufficient water have been essential aspects that bring prosperity and stability to the agriculture sector. However, currently, Pakistan's agriculture sector is profoundly suffering from both energy and water crisis. The major culprits are the exponential growth of population, limited freshwater and primary energy reservoirs, electricity shortfalls, and dried agricultural lands, leading to food insecurity in the country. In 2021, the agriculture sector accounts for 45 billion PKR loss due to power shortages, which directly influence cultivation and irrigation activities. The groundwater and solar energy are alternative reliable solutions to accommodate water and energy shortages, respectively. In this framework, solar pumps are installed across the country however they exhausted

*Agrovoltaic and Smart Irrigation: Pakistan Perspective DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106973*

groundwater resources in several regions of Pakistan due to inadequate irrigation technologies, irresponsive behavior of farmers, and lack of groundwater governance policies. Agrovoltaic irrigation system (AVIS) could be a remarkable solution that controls the overexploitation of groundwater by utilizing non-payable energy. The present study aimed to explore the prospects and challenges that need to encounter for local implementation of the AVIS. In addition, the study discusses and reviewed the components of the AVIS. Because of the massive solar energy harvesting potential in the country, a significant amount of solar radiation transforms into electrical energy via photovoltaic modules if installed on the land that is cultivated with the crop. The potential benefits of the AVIS include the utilization of the same land for twin benefits (i.e., energy and crop production), metering the groundwater extraction, saving crops from extreme weather conditions, and powering irrigation systems free of cost. However, the impediments such as complex operating mechanisms required skilled/technical personnel for installation, sophisticated maintenance, absence of sufficient ground knowledge, and high capital investment. In order to ensure food security and agriculture prosperity, the government takes the necessary initiatives and empowers the AVIS adaptation by involving leading researchers and engineers mutually involve in research projects that strengthen the AVIS knowledge and conduct dissemination activities and workshops to train and attract the farmers.
