Economy News – Baghdad
The Ministry of Agriculture has announced ongoing efforts to foster integration between the agricultural and industrial sectors, highlighting initiatives to motivate farmers to establish projects that focus on food industries.
Undersecretary Mahdi Sahar elaborated that the food industries are heavily reliant on agricultural products as primary raw materials in their production processes. Key items include canned goods, dairy products, tomato paste, and date products—these contribute significantly to farmer income and fulfill essential consumer needs.
To facilitate this, the Ministry is encouraging farmers to utilize portions of their agricultural land for complementary projects aligned with food production, under the auspices of Law 24 of 2024. This allows for a broader array of plant and animal products to be generated.
Sahar emphasized the flexibility of Iraq’s agricultural sector, which is poised for rapid economic growth. This environment presents considerable opportunities for farmers and agricultural investors to enhance production and escalate agricultural investments.
The Undersecretary noted that investments in the food industry encompass various activities, including the mobilization, packaging, preservation, and processing of agricultural products. This includes the production of tomato paste, canned dates, molasses, and other transformative food industry items.
The Ministry’s strategy aims to create a synergistic relationship between the agricultural and industrial sectors. Such integration is expected to bolster the transformative food industries, meeting consumer demand while stabilizing prices and protecting local products by redirecting surplus consumption into the manufacturing process.
Sahar stated that the Ministry’s guidelines for establishing agricultural projects include the requirement for economic feasibility and the assurance of quality for products intended for local consumption. He also remarked on the recent uptick in the agricultural sector’s contribution to gross domestic product, with notable growth attributed to substantial government support geared toward the advancement of both industry and agriculture in Iraq.
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