AbstractIn India and other developing countries, irrigation has received particular attention for stimulating economic growth. Increase in agricultural productivity through better inputs is considered the key to economic development and self sufficiency. Considering the cost increases incurred by the state‐run electricity utilities in rural electrification and the uncertainties pertaining to the supply and the price of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, it becomes imperative to identify other options for irrigation water pumping. Much work has been done in recent years in India and elsewhere on the use of alternative technologies for this purpose, and the present work attempts to develop a linear (mixed integer) model for determining the cost‐effective technology options at the micro level.The energy required for irrigation is estimated. This is followed by a mathematical description of the developed model. The authors also discuss the technoeconomics of different energy resource and technology options for the irrigation sector. The technologies include solar photovoltaics, water pumping windmills, gasifier and biogas plants coupled to diesel engines operating in the dual‐fuel mode, electric pumpsets, and diesel pumps in the independent mode. The developed model is solved for typical conditions that exist in India, and it is shown that there are conditions in which alternative energy technologies make economic
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