India, May 9 -- In the parched outskirts of Koppal, Karnataka, 58-year-old Mallamma gazed out at her three-acre field being covered by glass panels, where tur dal (pigeon pea) once grew. In the 2025 season, she didn't sow anything. She looked at her hands and said, "These hands knew nothing else other than to prepare the field; sow the seeds; tend to the sprouts; and then care for the crop until harvest time." Instead, she had leased the land to a wealthy farmer, Nagaraj, to establish a solar park. "At least I'll get Rs 20,000 without worrying about rains, pests, or failed harvests," she said.

The decision, once unthinkable for a family that had survived for generations on rainfed farming, is now becoming common across the country's rain...