ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nearly two million dunams of rain-fed farmland in the Kurdistan Region have failed this year due to reduced rainfall, an agriculture ministry official said on Monday, pointing to a sharp drop in wheat and barley production.
Hiwa Ali, spokesperson of the Region’s agriculture ministry told Rudaw that “around three million dunams of land are typically planted with winter crops each year, nearly two million of which depend entirely on rainwater.”
“This year, the reduced rainfall has had a direct impact on wheat and barley production,” Ali said. He noted that nearly half of the farmers who rely on rain-fed land chose not to plant crops at all, while “those who did plant, lost most of their production.”
In previous years, the Kurdistan Region produced more than one million tons of wheat annually. This year, however, Ali warned that “the output will fall below that figure.”
The Iraqi federal government has announced plans to purchase approximately 400,000 tons of wheat from the Kurdistan Region at official prices.
However, the Region’s agriculture and trade ministries have formally requested that Baghdad increase the quota and buy all the wheat produced by Kurdish farmers.
Engagement with Baghdad is underway “to see that this request is fulfilled,” Ali said, noting however that “there are no encouraging signs from Baghdad in that regard as they have not officially responded to us.”
Iraq’s total wheat production is estimated at 4.5 million tons, with Baghdad already having purchased nearly 2.5 million tons.
“As long as they have sufficient production from other regions, they are unlikely to increase the Kurdistan Region's share,” Ali said, implicitly suggesting possible favoritism in the distribution process.
For his part, Nawzad Sheikh Kamil, a senior official from Erbil’s trade ministry told Rudaw on Thursday that wheat procurement from local farmers in the Region is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
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