Social Impact

Our products have an impact on rural communities in several ways.
Income effect
Access to precision irrigation has significant income effects for the farmers, the manufacturers, and the economy of local communities. The impact is through three main components.
First, access to precision irrigation generates income for the farmers using the systems. The increase in income occurs on two ways: Through higher cash income, and through lower input costs (fertilizer, water, energy use).
Second, income is generated for other labourers associated with agriculture. The increase in yield has a ripple effect in terms of increasing the workforce needed during harvests and also by increasing the area under agriculture.

Jobs Creation
GEWP creates labour for manufacturers and dealers that build supply and install the material. There are currently 15 different small scale vendors spread all across India and a growing network of dealers all around the country that provide employment. GEWP has created more than 430 million man days employment at various levels.

Nutrition Effect
In some cases, the use of the system creates nutrition benefits for farmer families rather than income benefits - when part of the incremental production generated through the use of the systems is consumed by the farmer and his household. An impact assessment study conducted by IDEI identified that the yearly consumption of vegetables per person was increased by 30 to 60 kilograms for the poor families using the Family Nutrition Kit (GEWP’s smallest micro-irrigation system, designed for 20 sqm. plots

Impact on the social fabric
Giving poor farmers access to precision irrigation creates more secure and stable rural communities, which directly reduces migration of rural families from villages to cities.

Environmental benefits
The use of precision irrigation systems has significant environmental benefits. They create water savings typically ranging between 30% and 50% for micro-irrigation, or between 20% and 35% for sprinklers, while increasing the crop yield between 30% and 70%. Water-soluble fertilizers can be applied through the micro-irrigation system, resulting in targeted fertilizer application and reduced harm to the environment. Precision irrigation also saves energy: With 85% of farmers’ energy requirements going to irrigation, the use of precision irrigation can reduce farmers’ electricity consumption by 50% . At the scale of the 260 million smallholder farmers who are IDEI’s primary customer base, this represents a massive potential reduction in CO2 emissions..