HARIR, Kurdistan Region — Rice harvest season has begun in the Kurdistan Region, and farmers in Erbil’s Harir sub-district say there's been a boom in production this year. "We're making a lot of profit," Mawlud Hassan, a farmer in Harir said. According to the KRG agriculture ministry, nearly 20,000 dunams of Kurdistan Region land are planted with rice. Last year, 10,000 tonnes of rice were produced in the Kurdistan Region, the ministry said. This year, production is expected to surpass 15,000 tonnes. "This year’s product is better than ever," farmer Mariwan Abdullah said. "The quality is also better than ever, because there was more water. The soil is good too. All the water has come from springs." There are two types of Kurdish rice: Sadri (long-grain) and round. The famed quality of the rice makes marketing it easy. Farmers don’t have to take their rice to market, and some are even able to sell it on the threshing floor. "We have our buyers and don’t need the markets. It is not like tomatoes that you have to take to market in pickups. Every farmer has his own customers. They call you and order the number of canisters or kilograms they want," farmer Karwan Sabah said. The product is sold in 16-kilogram canisters. One can of Sadri rice sells for 55,000 Iraqi dinars ($45). Kurdistan Region land produces 6% of the rice sold here. Reporting by Bakhtiyar Qadir Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
