The core mission of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal -2 is to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. A growing population triggering higher food demand and escalating impacts of climate change have posed tougher hurdles in achieving this goal. Sustainable agriculture is central to long-term food security for growing population of Assam, but in rain-fed areas of the state it remains a hard row to hoe. Ironically, less than 23% of the gross cropped area of the state is under irrigation, and the remaining 77% of the cropped area is rain-fed. The drastic change in rainfall pattern due to climate change impact has also adversely affected cropping activities and increased sustainability challenges. While measures like the distribution of climate-resilient varieties and crop insurance coverage have been taken to help farmers absorb climate- and disaster-induced shocks, increasing irrigation coverage remains the pragmatic solution for the long-term sustainability of agriculture in these areas. Without reducing rain dependency, increasing farm production to meet the rising food demand of the state will be like chasing a mirage. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme for solarising agricultural pumps has a dual advantage: it creates irrigation potential with renewable energy and replaces diesel with renewable energy, making it a sustainable solution for irrigation needs in rain-fed areas. Yet, the implementation of PM-KUSUM has been sluggish in the state, reflecting gaps at both administrative and policy levels. Official data highlights that so far only 685 standalone solar pumps have been installed in the state against 4,000 solar pumps sanctioned by the central government. The central government’s explanation about the varied pace of implementation of PM-KUSUM is that the scheme being demand-driven, the capacities are allocated based on demand received and progress shown by the states. The harsh realities of the scheme implementation put the spotlight on the policy approach of the central and state governments to the scheme. The solarisation of irrigation pumps lies at the intersection of renewable energy generation and agriculture, but its primary objective is to de-dieselise the farm sector, provide assured daytime solar power and provide energy security to farmers. Targeted beneficiaries, on the other hand, are farmers or groups of farmers, including farmer producer organizations whose primary engagement is to grow crops for livelihood and have nothing to do with generating renewable energy. At the national level, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal ministry for PM-KUSUM, while in Assam the Assam Energy Development Agency (AEDA) is the implementing agency of the scheme. For both MNRE and AEDA, the primary mandate is to increase renewable energy generation and adoption and not to create irrigation potential or reach out to farmers for boosting agricultural productivity or food security. Without smooth field-level coordination with the irrigation department, which has the mandate to create and add irrigation potential, the implementation of the scheme remains disconnected from the primary needs of the farmers in rain-fed areas: assured water availability for irrigating their farmlands to cope with challenges like drought, drought-like situations, and erratic rainfall during the crop season. The key advantages of solar water pumps over diesel-run water pumps are that there is no recurring fuel cost and the maintenance cost is much less compared to diesel-run pumps. Reduced recurring and maintenance costs can increase farmers’ savings, while reduced rain dependency makes farming activities sustainable, boosts agricultural production and facilitates the adoption of multicropping and growing crops on a commercial scale to augment income from farmland. The expenditure of installation of the solar agricultural pumps under the scheme is shared by the central government, state government and farmers. The central government and state government jointly share 85% of the unit cost of each pump set, while the beneficiary is required to share 15% of the cost. The scheme guidelines prepared by AEDA state that individual farmers/groups of farmers/water user associations having around two hectares of contiguous cultivable agricultural land with an existing working boring for assured irrigation will be supported to install standalone solar water pumps for replacement of existing diesel agriculture pumps/irrigation systems in off-grid areas, where grid supply is not available. The beneficiaries in the state need to pay around Rs 24,000, which is on the higher side for individual small and marginal farmers. Reaching out to a group of farmers who jointly possess 15 bighas of consecutive land is essential so that the farmers’ contribution for the installation of the pump is shared and the problem of smaller land holdings of individual small and marginal farmers is also addressed to meet the scheme eligibility condition. These are details of the strategy to be adopted to raise the demand for the installation of pumps under PM-KUSUM. Assam, however, needs to shift its approach from mere pump-centric solarisation to the creation of sustainable irrigation. Such a shift is an urgent necessity, as vast tracts of unirrigated land are poised to face even greater vulnerabilities in agricultural production.