Iraq

Iraqi scientists have had limited access to international developments in the agricultural sector for over two decades. Consistent with other support provided by the Australian Government, the ACIAR-managed and AusAID-funded projects are intended to facilitate the development of modern and sustainable agricultural production and marketing systems in Iraq.

In Iraq pressures to abandon cereal–fallow rotations have exacerbated soil degradation and nutrient depletion to the extent that established cropping systems are in serious decline. The introduction of sustainable tillage will play a key role in restoring these systems, and spillover benefits are also expected beyond Iraq. The project has been shaped by the relevance of Australian expertise to Iraqi conditions, but constrained by the inaccessibility of Iraq by Australian scientists. It focuses on the enhancement of barley, wheat and grain legume production under dryland conditions in northern Iraq through the introduction and evaluation of appropriate modern varieties; and on the adaptation of improved management practices, including tillage, fertiliser and weed control techniques. Achieving sustainable increase in domestic production is now a national imperative.

Significant yield improvements are anticipated, given that current yields of these crops are only about one-third of those under similar conditions in developed countries. Iraq’s agricultural sector represents a vital component of its economy as it is the largest employer (25% of the labour force) and the second-largest industry after oil (as a contribution to GDP).

The 2 million-hectare (ha) central-southern irrigated zone that produces vegetables, fruit and cereals is under increased pressure from salinity, which has long been identified as a major threat to agriculture in Iraq. Implementation of past policies aimed at improving irrigation and drainage practices have been hampered since the early 1980s because of political tensions with neighbouring countries. This has been compounded by increasing levels of salinity of irrigation water from both the Euphrates and Tigris rivers due to changed water regimes. These changes are the result of upstream damming of the rivers and subsidiaries in Syria, Turkey and Iran, but climate change and variability have also recently affected river flows. Consequently, Iraq’s extensive irrigation infrastructure has been degraded and soil salinity has spread across much of the irrigated areas of central and southern Iraq. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, it is estimated that approximately 75% of this region is moderately saline and another 25% has levels of salinity that prevent farming.

Much work is currently being undertaken within Iraq to explore production gains from saline agronomy. However, it is recognised that this farm-scale work must be complemented with work at the basin and irrigation-district scales to provide a scope of the size of the problem. Broad strategic policy options can then be implemented to ensure that farm-scale change is made with a sustainable future assured.

These issues are particularly relevant within the Australian experience as they mirror the issues that confronted managers in the Murray–Darling Basin in the late 1960s through to the mid 1980s (following the droughts of 1967 and 1983). The actions taken by Australian bureaucrats and researchers at both policy and strategic levels, as well as farming systems changes at the local level, are particularly relevant to the Iraqi situation.

ACIAR’s proposed 2-year scoping project in Iraq focuses on understanding salinisation processes, water management and the use of moderately saline soil for agricultural production. The project is expected to be funded by AusAID, managed by ACIAR, and executed by ICARDA and Australian research organisations.