Renewable Energy for Sustainable Irrigation and Agricultural Production: Technologies, Trade-offs and Pathways for Integrated Deployment
Ibrahim Babangida *
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil Kano State, Nigeria.
Saidu Hassan Musa
Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainability Transitions, Bayero University Kano, Kano State, Nigeria.
Amina Barau Inuwa
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil Kano State, Nigeria.
Mustapha Muhammad
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil Kano State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Agricultural production depends on reliable energy for water lifting, pressurised irrigation, protected cultivation and other farm operations, yet conventional diesel and electricity supply can expose producers to fuel-price volatility, unreliable service and greenhouse-gas emissions. Renewable energy offers a credible route to reduce these constraints, but technology substitution alone does not ensure sustainability. This critical narrative review evaluates renewable energy technologies for irrigation and agricultural production, with particular emphasis on solar photovoltaic pumping, wind and hybrid pumping, bioenergy, agrivoltaics, and renewable thermal energy for greenhouses. The literature was selected from open scholarly indexes and authoritative institutional sources and critically appraised for technical validity, economic assumptions, environmental boundaries, water-resource implications and implementation context. The evidence is strongest for solar photovoltaic pumping, whose modularity, low operating expenditure and alignment with daytime irrigation demand make it attractive across off-grid and weak-grid settings. Its principal limitation is not energy conversion but system integration: inappropriate pump sizing, weak maintenance, financing barriers and the removal of marginal pumping costs can undermine both reliability and groundwater sustainability. Evidence from India and Bangladesh demonstrates that groundwater outcomes are institutionally mediated rather than technologically predetermined; ownership, water pricing, irrigation service models and crop choice strongly shape rebound effects. Wind, biomass and hybrid systems can be effective where local resources justify them, but their comparative advantages are more site-specific. Agrivoltaic evidence indicates potential land- and water-use synergies, particularly in hot and water-limited environments, while crop-yield responses remain heterogeneous and sensitive to shading geometry. Renewable greenhouse heating and cooling can reduce fossil-energy dependence, although long-term commercial evidence is thinner than engineering studies suggest. Sustainable deployment therefore requires integrated design across water availability, hydraulic demand, renewable resources, finance, lifecycle impacts, farmer capability and governance. Future research should prioritise multi-season field trials, basin-aware groundwater accounting, harmonised lifecycle assessment and business models that preserve incentives for water conservation while broadening smallholder access.
Keywords: Agrivoltaics, agricultural decarbonisation, groundwater governance, photovoltaic water pumping, renewable thermal energy, solar irrigation, water-energy-food nexus