Treadle pumps bring water to nearly 4m people

The demand for better irrigation in India is huge. 98 million farmers are smallholders and most only grow one crop a year, watered by the monsoon. For small farmers diesel pumps are too expensive meaning that any irrigation is slow and carried out by hand. In response, IDEI has set up a distribution system for their low-cost (US$30-US$42) treadle pump which have transformed the lives of smallholders in India.

The technology uses ‘foot power’ to pump water for crop irrigation. IDEI have even developed ‘drip’ irrigation systems– a way of making the very best use of limited water supplies through targeting it at very specific areas. Farmers can now grow two or even three crops a year and incomes in some areas have doubled. IDEI have installed over 750,000 treadle pumps bringing benefits to nearly four million people.

You can find out more about the technology behind treadle pumps from our website and watch IDEI's film on our YouTube page.

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