Cereal production in Iraq has fallen due to drought: UN

Mustafa Shilani 2022/07/12 20:38

An aerial view shows a pond remaining at the dried-up Sawa Lake in Iraq's southern province of al-Muthanna, April 19, 2022. (Photo: Asaad Niazi/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) confirmed a decline in cereal production in Iraq in 2022 because of the drought, indicating that the amount of cereal harvest in 2022 in Iraq amounted to 3.4 million tons.

The Rome-based organization said in a report “grain production in Iraq in 2022 declined even in the northern part of the country (including the main wheat-producing Nineveh province) compared to the previous year due to the negative impact of drought, which prompted the government to reduce the area planted with irrigated crops to reduce water demand amid increasing water scarcity. "

It is expected that the amount of grain harvest for 2022 in Iraq will reach 3.4 million tons (including 2.7 million tons of wheat), which is about 35% less than in 2021, when the amount of grain production amounted to 5.2 million tons, including 4.2 million tons of wheat.

The report noted that "both Turkey and Iran, the two neighbour countries of Iraq, have increased grain production in 2022 by 15.3% and 13.5%, respectively."

Iraq has suffered a major drought during the past three years because of the lack of rainfall and the lack of water revenues in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in addition, to the closure of the tributaries coming from Iran and diverting them inward.

Edited by NA