Economic Insights – Baghdad
On Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture announced a significant governmental commitment to enhancing the agricultural sector in Iraq, highlighting the achievement of self-sufficiency in seven crops along with the export of 13 agricultural products overseas.
The Ministry, navigating numerous challenges, particularly water scarcity, is focusing on expanding agricultural strategies that include cultivating desert land, utilizing well water, and developing new crop varieties requiring less water. Furthermore, the adoption of modern agricultural practices aims to reduce overall water consumption.
Additionally, the transition to advanced irrigation techniques is well underway, with contracts valued at over 830 billion dinars for the procurement of more than 12,000 irrigation systems. This investment is expected to increase agricultural land by approximately 1.5 million dunums.
Al-Khuzai emphasized that these initiatives, combined with the Ministry’s awareness campaigns for farmers on water conservation and its legal utilization, have resulted in a surplus production of vital strategic crops such as wheat. The cultivation of coffin crops has also risen to 150,000 dunums.
Furthermore, Iraq has achieved self-sufficiency in seven agricultural crops year-round and has successfully exported over 13 crops, including dates, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelon, and other products.
Al-Khuzai reaffirmed the unprecedented governmental interest from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani and the Minister of Agriculture in revitalizing the agricultural sector. The Ministry aims to reach a target of 30 million palm trees within the next three years.
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