Dasht, Balochistan, Pakistan – Karim Baksh bends down to a narrow channel of water, guiding it with his hands through shallow mud channels towards a row of ripening watermelons growing.In Dasht, a remote village in the southern part of Balochistan, geographically Pakistan’s largest province, Baksh’s crops for years depended on a diesel-powered pump that drew water from the ground to irrigate his land.That changed after Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which set off a surge in fuel prices, making it difficult for him to buy expensive diesel for his daily use. “It became impossible for me to run the pump on diesel daily,” he said.With little water, his watermelons started to suffer. In some seasons, he reduced the land he cultivated. “If there is no water, there is no crop. And if there is no crop, there is no money,” he added.Then, in 2023, he made a decision that at the time seemed risky: He borrowed 300,000 Pakistani rupees ($1,075) from relatives and friends and installed a row of solar panels next to his field.Three years later, that gamble is paying off.Amid the US-Israel war on Iran, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz – through which 20 percent of oil and gas passes during peacetime – energy prices …
