Archive | Agriculture

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

Kerry is Lobbied on US Rice for Iraq

By John Lee. Mississippi’s congressional delegation has asked Secretary of State John Kerry to help encourage Iraq to buy more US-produced rice. According to a report from Clarion Ledger, they have asked for diplomatic assistance to improve trade relations with the Iraqi Grain Board (IGB), which is expected to soon begin accepting bids on a […]

Iraq Doubles Duty on Rice Imports

By John Lee. India's Economic Times reports that Iraq has doubled the import duty on rice to 40 percent. An official from the All India Rice Exporters' Association (AIREA) told the news agency that the sudden increase in import duty by Iraq has come as a major blow and it is bound to impact exports […]

Iraq Buys 200,000 Tonnes of Wheat

By John Lee. The Iraqi Grain Board has bought 200,000 tonnes of hard wheat from Canada, the United States and Australia, Reuters reported on Monday: 100,000 tonnes of Canadian wheat, from trading house Richardson at $331.65 a tonne c&f free out (ciffo); 50,000 tonnes of US wheat, from trading house Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) at $333.87 […]

US Wins Iraq Rice Order

By John Lee. The USA Rice Federation has announced that that "after being passed over" in the previous Iraqi rice tender, U.S. rice has been awarded 120,000 MT of long grain in the current tender. USA Rice Federation President and CEO Betsy Ward said: "This is really great news for the entire U.S. rice industry […]

Iraqi Farmers "in Dire Need of Support"

Wheat seeds, fertilizer and animal feed are starting to roll out to nearly 28,000 farming families in Iraq whose livelihoods have been left in tatters as a result of hostilities -- part of an effort from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aimed at reinforcing food production and helping people recover. But the Organization […]

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 […]