Empowering the Baji Minasa Farmer Group through Solar-Powered Water Pump Implementation for Sustainable Irrigation

Abstract

This community engagement program aimed to empower the Baji Minasa Farmer Group through the implementation of solar-powered water pumps to support sustainable irrigation. The program was conducted in Tondong Tallasa Village, Pangkep Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, involving 24 farmers. Program outcomes were evaluated before and after implementation using six indicators: energy management knowledge, pump operation, equipment maintenance, irrigation efficiency, agricultural productivity, and farmer group independence. The assessment results showed improvements across all indicators. The results showed an improvement across all six community empowerment indicators following the implementation of the program. Energy management knowledge increased from 35.07% to 89.93%, pump operation from 29.86% to 87.85%, equipment maintenance from 25.00% to 81.94%, irrigation efficiency from 45.14% to 89.93%, and agricultural productivity from 50.00% to 85.07%. Farmer group independence also demonstrated an increase, from an estimated 39.93% to 87.85%. Overall, the average achievement increased from 37.50% before the program to 87.09% afterward, representing an improvement of 49.59 percentage points. The greatest improvement among the five indicators with calculated scores was observed in pump operation, with an increase of 57.99 percentage points, followed by equipment maintenance at 56.94 percentage points. The results suggest that the program contributed to strengthening the technical capacity and independence of farmer groups. However, the increase in the agricultural productivity assessment score does not necessarily demonstrate an actual increase in crop yields, as direct production measurements were not reported. Overall, the implementation of solar-powered water pumps has the potential to strengthen farmer capacity and support more sustainable agricultural water management.