We tried and is running a small 50W solar panel with a small petrol generator. My estimation, basing on our requirement, cost of material, product availability, the petrol or conventional system is still more economical (excluding environmental benefits).

You'll still need to do your own feasibility study as your may turn out to be feasible as it all boils down to your specific requirement. Also solar product cost over here is higher versus cheap hardware/ small engine which are cheaper here.

Do consider about security as well. Good luck.

Sorry, I should also explain why I said rainwater harvesting works with good average rainfall.

Put simply, the average small farm is limited by space. There's only so much space that you can allocate for structures (including shedhouse, water tanks, etc.). So to store large quantities of water will mean sacrificing space which could otherwise be used for growing crops/livestock etc. By knowing how much water is required each month for your farm, and averaging it out to how many months of dryspell to anticipate (adding a little more for unexpected events), you could build the right storage facility to accomodate the need.

Now in places with a good average monthly rainfall pattern, the amount of water required to be stored will be correspondingly lower, i.e. just need to top-up for the shortage. Therefore, your water storage facility will take up less space, which you can better use for other things.

For places with not-so-good rainfall patterns (and there are many in Malaysia), you might need to adjust your cropping patterns to accomodate this. Or you might need to choose an entirely different crop altogether. Eg., some places in central Malaysia have very high rainfalls in the early part of the year, and later parts of the year (about 300-500mm); the months in between have very low rainfall (150mm or less).

The website from the Met Department below is useful: http://www.met.gov.my/index.php?option=com...47&lang=english

thanks for the reply. Still working on the numbers

btw, how about water supply? from what I gather, drilling a well and get the underground water is the most common way. Anyone can share any insight, ie your experience, things to consider, rules and regulation that govern (if any) such practice on this?

thanks

Sorry, I just realized the link earlier was a little difficult to navigate. The direct link has been changed as above, and easier to input for information.

  I was at the wholesale market on Saturday, sending my harvest. As I was too early, went to walk about checking out the other stalls and chatting them up. Met 2 gentlemen, pens and a form with all the names of fruits & vegetables. They go from stall to stall, asking how much, wrote down on their form and proceed to the next one.

Lots of question came up on my mind on the accuracy of the "price". Still, it's a good guide, if you don't know where to start.

Would also like to point out that pricing is not the only factor, as with any other business, there are lots of other factors to consider.