Shillong: Theilyn Syngkli, a 60-year-old farmer in Meghalaya’s Ribhoi district, said she could afford to relax now.
Most afternoons, she sits on the porch of her tin-roofed house in Nartap village, chewing kwai (areca nut) wrapped in betel leaf, sometimes knitting for her grandchildren, and at times doing nothing.
Just a couple of years ago, that kind of rest was unthinkable.
Like most women in her village, Syngkli spent long hours after harvest separating husk from rice — a job done manually using bamboo trays called pdung and prah. Among the Khasi tribe she belongs to, winnowing paddy is considered women’s work.
The repetitive motions of tossing and shaking the trays left Syngkli with chronic back and shoulder pain. “It was so bad that I started taking painkillers once or twice a month… The pain started in 2010, but now, I have stopped taking the medicines.”
That changed in 2022 when Syngkli started getting her paddy processed through a solar-powered rice huller machine — the only one of its kind in the village. “The rice comes out of one end, the husk from the other,” she said.
Installed by a farmer couple, the machine processes rice for over 85 of Nartap’s 92 households, offering a clean and efficient alternative to the laborious traditional method.
For Syngkli, access to the machine has been a turning point. Earlier, she would sell unprocessed paddy in the market at low rates. “Now I can convert large quantities of paddy into rice myself easily and sell it at a higher margin,” she said.
Grinding away worries
The solar rice huller was installed by Ioanis Kurbah and Jenita Jyrwa, a couple from Nartap. Kurbah, a farmer and entrepreneur, had approached MOSONiE, an all-women-led nonprofit organisation working in Meghalaya and Manipur, with the idea of setting up a solar-powered rice unit. With support from MOSONiE and SELCO Foundation, the couple installed 12 solar panels (with a 10kW capacity) in their backyard and purchased the huller.
Jyrwa, a middle school teacher, mother of two, and member of the village’s self-help group (SHG), applied for a zero-interest loan of Rs 68,000 to cover 15% of the cost. The rest — around Rs 3.8 lakh — was paid for through subsidies by the two nonprofits. “If it wasn’t for the SHG loan, we’d have had to depend more heavily on NGOs or borrow from someone else,” said Kurbah.
Since then, they’ve been processing rice for the entire village and beyond. People from neighbouring areas and districts also come to use their machine. The couple charges Rs 20 for a 5 kg tin of rice, and an extra Rs 10 if farmers leave behind the husk — which Kurbah either sells or uses as pig fodder. Their monthly income now ranges from Rs 18,000 to Rs 40,000, and they’ve already repaid the loan.
The success of their solar rice unit is part of a growing national shift toward decentralised renewable energy (DRE) products. A 2022 framework by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) encourages solar, wind and biomass-powered tools for livelihood generation — such as dryers, looms, cold storage, and grain hullers. A report by the non-profit thinktank Council on Energy, Environment and Water estimates that over 63,000 livelihoods in Meghalaya could be improved through DRE.
In Nartap, that transformation is already visible.
The three diesel-run rice hullers in the village — once the norm — have now fallen silent. “The farmers who own them are running into losses because no one uses them anymore,” Kurbah said. This is also because the solar-powered machine produces better quality output, claimed Jyrwa.
“It’s less noisy and causes less breakage of the grains. It is also very easy to operate,” Jyrwa added.
Breathe easy
Thomas Syngkli (80), who was among the first men in the village to operate a diesel-powered rice huller, agreed with Jyrwa.
“The diesel machine was powerful but the husk dust would fill the entire room. It also got into my eyes and made them sting,” he recalled.
Thomas had bought his machine in 2000 for Rs 17,500 — a major investment at the time. Years of inhaling the fine rice husk particles and diesel fumes took a toll on his health. He developed persistent coughing and breathing issues and often had to visit the local health sub-centre for relief.
His son Nicholas Jyrwa, who ran the machine after him, experienced similar symptoms. “His eyes would turn red and start watering,” Thomas said.
Kurbah also recalled the costs of operating diesel. “I’d spend nearly Rs 3,000 a month on diesel, just for fuel and transport,” he said. Depending on the workload, the machine used up to 25 litres a month, equal to nearly 64 kilograms of carbon emissions. That’s apart from the persistent smoke and engine noise that surrounded the workspace.
The solar rice huller, by contrast, runs cleanly and quietly. It has also improved the water use in the village. Many large diesel hullers need constant cooling.
Kurbah’s old machine required 70 to 80 litres of water per hour. To supply this, the village had laid a pipe directly from a natural cave uphill, a fragile system that meant hours of daily water flow went just to keeping one machine running.
“It ran for about four to five hours a day, every day except Sundays. That led to a lot of water wastage,” Kurbah said.
Kakali Kalita of the SELCO Foundation noted that solar-powered machines are enabling more flexible and independent working hours. “Users don’t have to worry about whether grid electricity or diesel is available. Solar provides uninterrupted power,” she said.
Still, solar isn’t without its limits. In winter, between December and February, the panels produce less power due to shorter daylight hours. “They operate for fewer hours in winter,” Kurbah said.
Another advantage, Kalita said, lies in the hullers’ precision. This precision is especially important for preserving the integrity and market value of indigenous rice varieties, she added, and it’s something large diesel hullers often lack.
“The different types of rice hulled in the machine throughout the day don’t get mixed,” Jenita Jyrwa confirmed. “So, if you process joha rice right after aijong, there won’t be any leftover grains from the earlier batch.”
Experts believe this model holds promise for a sustainable agricultural future. “Diesel-powered machines come with high operating costs and significant CO₂ emissions,” said Dr Rajshri Shukla, a fellow at the Just Transition Research Centre (JTRC), Indian Institute of Technology – Kanpur. “A transition to solar-powered systems would make the rice value chain not only more sustainable but also more resilient.”
This need is especially urgent in remote areas. Research from JTRC at IIT Kanpur has shown that despite improvements through government energy schemes, rural regions still struggle with reliable and affordable power access. “Solar-based interventions in agriculture offer a cost-effective, reliable, and environmentally sound alternative to diesel,” said Shukla. “They are crucial to a just transformation—moving from carbon-heavy systems toward sustainability, without leaving vulnerable communities behind.”
Cloudy skies
Even with the solar-powered machine’s efficiency, Kurbah has to regularly replace the blades and screens. “I order about ten of each in bulk so I’m not caught off guard during emergencies.” The nearest seller of spare parts is in Jorhat town, Assam — nearly 350 km away. “I pay about Rs 1,000, including courier charges. If there’s a size mismatch, I have to send it back and pay again,” Kurbah said.
Kalita admitted, “post-installation issues around operation and maintenance are our biggest hurdles.. In remote areas, these costs are often twice as high as in more accessible locations. Reaching a single site can take a lot of time and resources.”
Lightning strikes and sudden breakdowns mean the systems need upkeep. Despite maintenance costs, the demand is growing. “People in nearby villages are starting to see the value of solar machines,” Kurbah said. In July, a solar-powered rice huller was installed in Nongrim Nongladew, a nearby village, thanks in part to awareness-building efforts led by Kurbah himself.
As the model expands, experts are cautiously optimistic. “Environmentally, yes, solar-powered rice hullers are sustainable. But their social and economic sustainability depends on long-term institutional and policy support,” said Dr Shukla.
For such transitions to be just and inclusive, she added, ownership models matter. “Community-owned machines, like those run by SHGs, could make this shift more equitable. Local NGOs, panchayats, and businesses, all will need to work together. From infrastructure to skill-building and training, this is a multi-stakeholder process.”
(Sanskrita Bharadwaj is a freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters)
