By Ronald P Verdonk, Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Continuing with the theme of my last blog, I want to address other areas that the Iraqi public sector can tackle so that Iraqi agriculture can be more productive.

In this day and age, a critical component of public policy decision-making is data that is generally publicly available, good, sound numbers with which leadership in government can make more informed choices about the kind of support to target to producer groups.

The bureau in the Ministry of Planning responsible for statistics, COSIT (www. cosit.gov.iq) does a creditable job in terms of crunching some of the agricultural numbers although the timeliness of data remains a challenge. By and large, the availability of GoI-generated data across sectors remains a work in progress.

Another area in which the Iraqi Government can make a difference in agriculture concerns on-farm productivity. In fact, as the staff agricultural economist in my office, John Schnittker, points out, on a per hectare basis for about the last forty years, Iraqi farmers produce half as much wheat compared to the average output of their counterparts in Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran.

To what is that attributable? No doubt the vagaries of weather play a role in rain fed production and soil quality is also a factor. Fertilizer availability and improved seed are critical to getting better yields and both have been in short supply for years. The availability of the right kind of certified wheat seed available in the international marketplace could help address some of the shortfall, but Iraq needs to devote greater resources to the development of better local varieties just as the Ministry of Agriculture needs to overhaul its process for seed registration.

Iraq would do well to seek membership in the OECD Seed Schemes as means to shortcut the acquisition of a range of better, certified seed varieties.

By Ronald P Verdonk, Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

In my last piece I made mention of a sizable irrigation equipment purchase by Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture and underscored the role the private sector needs to play to contribute to the revitalization of the agricultural sector. In this edition of the blog, I’d like to address areas where government has an important role to play in supporting Iraqi farmers.

While much of the cropland north of Kirkuk receives sufficient rain, almost everywhere southward is irrigated. Without question, the irrigation infrastructure would benefit from a well-planned modernization program. One of the most pressing challenges is to ensure adequate water flow at the level of pumping stations, a number of which need new hardware, including the pumps themselves. In addition, it is generally accepted that considerable irrigation water is lost due to canals that are not lined to prevent seepage. Soil salinity and waterlogging must also be dealt with by rehabilitating drainage systems and on-farm canals.

And moving from the “big water” coming off the rivers to the “small water” at the farm level, producers would also be helped by increased electricity supply that can run the irrigation pumps necessary to move water into the fields, in addition to powering refrigeration equipment that would keep produce, meat and fish chilled or frozen. These are some of the fundamental services government can provide, and without a doubt, the Government of Iraq is spending huge sums of money to expand the country’s electricity supply, though it will take a few years to catch up to rapidly increasing demand.

As critical as the availability and quality of water and seed, another fundamental challenge for the Iraqi Government concerns fertilizer supply. For the past few years, the Government of Iraq has cited electricity shortages as a reason for fertilizer plants in Basrah and Al Qaim to run on a part-time basis, and the facility in Bayji has been out of production for at least four years. Iraq has the potential to emerge as a net exporter of fertilizers, but the country is currently dependent on imports, and the import volume not proven sufficient for optimal crop production.

I’m not advocating government fertilizer imports; that’s best handled on the private side, but it is clear that many of Iraq’s development challenges are interrelated. The agriculture sector will benefit as the electricity shortfall is addressed and fertilizer production expands to meet local farming needs.

By Ronald P Verdonk, Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

At this point in late March/early April, Iraq would benefit from additional moisture in order for its winter wheat to fill out and further develop.  Already, given the regional drop in precipitation through the growing season compared to a year ago, irrigation supplies are relatively limited and will affect wheat crop development, which is a cause for concern in more than half the overall crop (roughly from Kirkuk southward) because that portion depends on irrigation for production.

With regard to the north of Iraq, which accounts for about 40% of wheat produced, the lack of early season rain reduced wheat planting and was further affected by continued precipitation shortfalls, which will likely cause yields to also miss production targets.  To address on a limited scale the continued challenge of adequate water supply, the Ministry of Agriculture is in the process of buying hundreds of units of imported center-pivot irrigation equipment for subsequent sale to Iraqi farmers at a fifty percent discount.  Effective deployment of 400 or 500 center-pivot units will take a year or two before the equipment is positioned across the country, which underscores a challenge that Iraq is beginning to confront as it further stabilizes and normalizes its agricultural production.

Public and private sector roles need to change in order for Iraqi agriculture to achieve its full potential.  There is no question that the government’s role is critical in this process.  Iraq’s government institutions need to ensure that the backbone, the infrastructure, is in place to support farm production throughout the country. However, the decades-old practice of Iraq’s government playing a dominant part in the agriculture sector by controlling input supply, output marketing and food processing must change to allow more private sector control of the industry.  Public command should transition to private control for there to be sustainable job creation and a more prosperous rural population in Iraq.  No question, the Ministry of Agriculture has a responsibility to regulate the sector, support farmer education, deal with salinity, line irrigation canals, rehabilitate soils – among a myriad of other challenges – but questions about the business of agriculture, those are best handled by the private sector.

Ronald P Verdonk is an Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. He has extensive experience in the agriculture sector, including placements in a wide range of developing economies.

By Ronald P Verdonk, Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Looking at Iraqi agriculture over the past year, relatively abundant rainfall in late 2009 and through the first quarter of 2010 led to bumper 2010 wheat and barley crops. With last year’s domestic wheat harvest at just over 2.5 million metric tons and barley at about 1 million metric tons, these production levels doubled when compared to either the 2008 or 2009 drought-reduced crops.

Searching for space to store its 2010 wheat crop, Iraqi Ministry of Trade tendering for imported wheat dropped off through much of the latter half of the last year. Now, in keeping with regional attempts to make sure staples are in adequate supply, the Ministry of Trade has stepped up tendering for the products that make up its Public Distribution System: Wheat (flour), rice, sugar and vegetable oil.

Of course, like all buyers in the international market and in view of escalating prices since July 2010, Iraq has to pay more to meet its needs. On average, Iraq is typically dependent on wheat imports to meet 60-70% of demand and relies on imported rice to meet about 90% of its needs. And speaking of rice, at a little more than 150,000 metric tons in rough rice production, Iraq’s 2010 harvest is estimated to have grown at least 10% versus 2009 output.

Prospects for 2011 currently suggest a slight reduction in output of wheat and barley in 2011, especially in view of the paucity of rainfall during the wheat/barley planting season, October-December. Moreover, poor quality seed and insufficient fertilizer will continue to limit growth in yields that would otherwise occur.

Ronald P Verdonk is an Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. He has extensive experience in the agriculture sector, including placements in a wide range of developing economies.

By Ronald P Verdonk, Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Iraqi agriculture, like other sectors of the economy, has a lot of catching up to do in order to create jobs and play a more significant role in boosting GNP.

Production of grain, vegetables and fruit faces a range of challenges of which the following are the most significant:

• reduced water availability made worse by inefficient irrigation systems;
• intermittent electricity;
• substandard seed quality with few commercially appropriate varieties available;
• insufficient fertilizer, insecticide and herbicide supply;
• under-mechanized production;
• a land tenure system that precludes economies of scale; and
• time-consuming/costly import inspection procedures to the extent feed components like corn and soybean meal, for example, are needed.

Iraq is increasing its use of drip irrigation and greenhouse vegetable production and has an improved supply of locally grown fruits and vegetables though imports of cheap, good quality products from neighboring countries are widely available.

The animal production sector is a key resource base for food security and economic growth in Iraq. Small ruminants – sheep and goats – offer the ability to reproduce on poor quality forage and minimal water. The poultry and fish sector are also enjoying some resurgence but are limited by obstacles to imported feeds.

Due to the interruption in flow of technology and ideas that has occurred since the 1980s, Iraqi agriculture has been unable to stay abreast of agricultural technology developments both in terms of personnel and inputs, and Iraq has become more dependent on imports of agricultural products.

As Iraqi security strengthens and the economy regains its footing, there is little question that Iraqi agriculture can produce more to ensure a greater measure of food security, though under any realistic scenario Iraq will remain dependent upon food imports.

Ronald P Verdonk is an Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. He has extensive experience in the agriculture sector, including placements in a wide range of developing economies.