It should be noted that the region suffered vandalism during the uprising against President Saddam Hussein's regime in 1991, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The Iraqi army bulldozed dozens of orchards and hundreds of palm trees when rebels hid in forests.
Also, palm groves in Basra and the border cities underwent major sabotage operations during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), and orchards full of palms are now either suffering from neglect or being washed away and turned into residential areas. The groves also have been damaged by the spread of pests.
Consequently, the number of palm trees in Iraq decreased from 30 million trees in the 1960s to 16 million trees in 2014, according to the Ministries of Agriculture and Planning.
Fawzi Turki, an agricultural engineer from Babylon, inherited five groves of palm trees from his family. “The groves are receding at a worrying pace, given the absence of government support for farmers and the absence of laws that deter their abuse,” Turki told Al-Monitor.
Turki suggested “encouraging food products that rely on dates instead of keeping the latter stacked in stores and then being exported at low prices.”
Iraq’s many palm trees do not qualify it as the first-ranking country when it comes to quality, or even among the first countries in food-related industries. On the contrary, canning factories are still primitive and scarce. Meanwhile, Iraqi citizens consume dates but do not grow palm trees.
Agricultural experts note that a rejuvenated dates industry could generate profit, reduce unemployment in the agricultural sector and provide diverse foods.
(Dates image via Shutterstock)
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