Archive | Agriculture

Iraq Business News brings you the latest news on developments and opportunities in Iraq agriculture.

Fighting Robs Farmers of Harvest

By Omar al-Jaffal for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Approximately 60% of the residents of the Salahuddin province, 175 kilometers (109 miles) north of Baghdad, work in farming. Salahuddin was ranked the top producing province in agriculture in 2012, and earned […]

UN Responds to Urgent Food Needs

UN World Food Programme Responds to Urgent Needs of Displaced People in Iraq The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is launching an initial emergency operation to provide food assistance to 43,500 of the most vulnerable people displaced by conflict this week in Iraq. WFP has deployed emergency and logistics staff to Erbil in the […]

Water and Wheat: ISIS Weapons?

By John Schnittker, Chief Economist at Schnittker Associates, and former Ministry Advisor at the US Embassy in Baghdad. With much of Iraq’s wheat production coming from Northern Iraq and nearly all of Iraq’s water resources flowing through areas under ISIS control, Iraq’s food security may be facing a severe threat. Iraq has about two thirds of […]

Iraq Buys 120,000 Tons of Rice

By John Lee. Iraq has purchased 120,000 tons of rice from the United States, Uruguay and Vietnam, according to Business Recorder. At the closing of the Iraq State Grain Board tender, 30,000 tons of the rice had been acquired from the US, 30,000 tons had come from Vietnam and a further 60,000 tons came from Uruguay, […]

Iraq may Resume Imports of Brazilian Beef

By John Lee. ANBA reports that a delegation of Iraqi government officials will visit Brazil from June 2nd to 12th to assess the sanitary conditions of Brazilian livestock and consider lifting the embargo on beef imports in place since 2012. They will see the beef shipping system at the Santos Port, pay visits to a […]

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UN Concerned at 'Deliberate Flooding' in Abu Ghraib

By John Lee. Nickolay Mladenov (pictured), the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, visited the area of Abu Ghraib on Wednesday and spoke out against what he called the deliberate flooding of the area. Floods in Abu Ghraib have caused the displacement of more than 12,000 families and submerged hundreds of houses, including at least four […]

Syria to Sell Excess Wheat to Iraq

By John Lee. According to Lebanon's The Daily Star, Syria is to tender 100,000 tonnes of soft wheat and 100,000 tonnes of durum wheat to the Iraqi market. Sources quoted inside Syria said that the wheat was excess from last year's harvest that was due for distribution in various parts of Syria, but that this […]

Lessons Learned on Water Management

Under the framework of the IPSM-Phase II Programme, a knowledge sharing workshop was conducted to familiarize the concerned participants from the two pilot areas in Duhok and Najaf on decentralized water management with reform success stories and challenges. The event was held in Erbil, in the General Directorate of Water and Sewerage on 14-15 April […]

Militants Close Euphrates River Dam

By John Lee. Militants have reportedly closed the Euphrates River dam they control in Iraq, cutting off a major source of water for central and southern Iraq. AFP reports that militants had previously cut the flow of water through the dam near the city of Fallujah several weeks ago, but reopened it when water accumulated […]

Iraq to End Thai Rice Ban

By John Lee. Iraq has lifted a ban on the importation of rice from Thailand. The ban was imposed on private exporters in August due to quality concerns, but the Thai government has continuously defended the quality of its rice. The Iraqi government had already stopped purchasing rice directly from its Thai counterpart three years […]

Poverty and Unemployment Not Being Addressed

By Layth Mahdi, Agricultural Advisor. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Poverty and Unemployment Not Being Addressed in the Coming Iraqi Elections Iraq's poverty and unemployment is increasing every year despite the Government's efforts to implement programs to lower it. The United […]

Iraq’s Summer Irrigation Water Supply Threatened

By John Schnittker, Chief Economist at Schnittker Associates, and former Ministry Advisor at the US Embassy in Baghdad. The headwater areas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that stretch across most of eastern Turkey have been exceptionally dry this fall and winter. Precipitation over eastern Turkey during the September 2013 – February 2014 period has been less than […]