(23 Jun 2019) LEADIN: Despite fires, security issues and drought, Iraq's Ministry of Agriculture expects the country to be self-sufficient in wheat and barley this year.
In Nineveh, this year's harvest is better than ever.
STORYLINE:
A combine harvester working its way through a wheat field in northern Iraq is a welcome sight.
While fires and drought have slowed production, the country still expects to be self-sufficient.
Fires burned 18,000 acres from an estimated 12 million acres that was planted with wheat and barley this year.
But Iraq's Ministry of Agriculture says the actual production of wheat and barley is still around 5 million tons.
According to the Ministry, the wheat fields in Nineveh, Kirkuk, al Anbar and some other areas in Iraq have added to production since they were liberated from the Islamic State group.
"We harvested after a lot of struggle," says Hussein Abdulrazzaq, a wheat farmer.
"First, we had the fear of fires, but we have harvested now, praise be to Allah," he continues.
"The season this year is very good, compared to previous years," he says.
The government is paying a subsidised price for wheat: farmer will receive 520,000 Iraqi dinar (approx. 436 US dollars) per ton for first grade wheat, while its average market price is between 350,000 and 420,000 Iraqi dinars (approx. 293 and 352 US dollars).
Anas al Taii, an agricultural engineer from Mosul who works in the wheat fields around Mosul, says that an estimated 540 acres in this area have been planted with wheat and they expect between 300 to 400 tons of wheat.
"The fires that occurred inside Nineveh governorate did not affect us directly," he explains.
"However, the urgency and the fear from the risk of fires pushed us to speed up harvesting some lands that were not completely ready," he says.
The director of Nineveh governorate's agriculture department, Dr Duraid Hikmet Tobia says production this year will be high.
"For wheat it is around 1,300,000 tons, and for barley it is around 1,400,000 tons," he says.
Tobia says that 230 fires happened in Nineveh fields from the beginning of the harvest season, including arson as well as accidents such as faulty exhaust pipes on harvester machines.
1.7 million acres of land in Nineveh governorate have not been included in the agricultural planning because they need to be cleared of bombs and mines - so when that is done, productivity could be even higher.
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