CROP PRODUCTION AND PROTECTION- Field crops- i. Dry land field crops Wheat is the most important staple food crop. Barley is mainly used for animal feed. The annual average (14 years) area covered by wheat and barely is about 1.5 million ha each. Production is about 1 million tons each (FAOSTAT Database). Wheat, barley, chickpea, lentil, dry broad bean and sugar beet are grown during winter as rain-fed crops in the northern Governorates of the country where 400 to 1000 millimetres of rainfall is received annually and the region is considered to be secured for the rain-fed crop production. Wheat is also grown in semi-secured area (200 to 400 millimetre of annual rainfall) with supplementary irrigation. Sunflower and sesame are grown during summer season mainly under irrigation. In some high rainfall areas sunflower is also grown as rain-fed crop. Since barley has some drought resistant capacity, barley is generally grown in comparatively dryer areas than wheat. In the northern Governorates, wheat, barley, chickpea, lentil and sunflower are the most important dry land field crops. Chickpea has become a popular cash crop among farmers mainly because of the suitability of the area for its production, attractive market price, crop rotation and soil fertility improvement.. ii. Irrigated field crops Rice, maize, cotton and sunflower crops are mainly grown under irrigation during summer season. Rice is second most important staple food crop and the third major cereal crop. Rice covers an annual average area of about 110 000 per ha and its production is estimated at about 212 000 tons (FAOSTAT Database). Annual average area for maize is about 73 000 ha and production is about 137 000 tons. The average rice yield is about 2 000 kg per ha whereas maize yield is 1 900 kg per ha (FAOSTAT Database). Maize is comparatively a new crop introduced to supplement poultry feed production. Rice and maize crops are rotated with vegetables, sunflower and cotton. The productivity of rice and maize decreased during the sanctions period mainly due to shortage of inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation water, as well as to substantially reduced research and extension services in the country. Generally winter crops are grown during the period of October to May and summer season crops are grown from March to September. Fruits and vegetables Tomato, cucumber, watermelon, onion, okra, eggplant, sweet melon, broad green bean, green bean, sweet pepper, squash, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, carrot, cabbage and cauliflower are the main vegetables and date palm, citrus, grape, pomegranate, stone fruits (apricot, plum, peach, almond), pear, olive, apples and fig are the main fruit crops grown The cultivated area of vegetables is estimated at about 9% (450,000 ha) of the total cultivated area and about 6% (300,000 ha) is covered by permanent fruit trees. Vegetables and fruits provide good supplementary and nutritive food in daily diet and they also fetch attractive price for the producers. . Soil fertility and crop yields Over time, the soils of Iraq have considerably deteriorated in both physical and chemical properties. The fertility deterioration was mainly due to constant removal of crop residues (organic matter) to feed animals, absence of crop rotation and fallowing, compaction of soil due to high animal stocking and use of heavy machines and high erosion imposed by monoculture. Other factor for soil fertility deterioration has been the, limited application of fertilisers caused by shortage and high cost. Monoculture was introduced with the introduction of agriculture mechanisation . Monoculture farming also increased weed, disease and pest population along with the depletion of soil fertility. The deterioration in soil fertility has resulted in current yield levels of most crops in Iraq of being significantly lower than the international average. Seeds Currently nearly 95% of the seeds of field crops including cereals are planted as farmers own saved seeds. Lack of good quality seeds continued to be the main constraints to increasing crop production. The seeds produced and distributed during the sanction period have been generally poor in quality. Both physical and genetic purity levels have been low. The seed industry has suffered from lack of timely maintenance of processing plants and staff incentives. Since the agriculture research has also deteriorated, provision of new crop varieties in the seed production stream through research remained virtually non-existent Seeds for vegetable such as cucumber, tomato, watermelon, onion, sweet pepper, cabbage, cauliflower and melon are traditionally imported. A large proportion of vegetable seeds are supplied by the private sector. The efforts to develop the agricultural and the seed sector should start with the definition of policies in agricultural research/production, in particular for availability of plant genetic resources and their use in plant breeding to obtain crop varieties adapted to the local conditions, the further development of the whole chain of seed production (basic, foundation seeds, etc.) seed processing/field and lab quality control/storage/distribution, responsibilities of the public and the private sectors, Main constraints to crop production • General constraints Shortages of inputs, lack of extension and research service, and absence of crop rotation have led to substantial decrease in crop productivity, degradation of the natural resource base and increased disease and pest infestations. Main inputs that are especially in short supply include quality seeds, fertilisers, machinery and spare parts, pesticides and sprayers, vehicles for movement and transportation facilities. Extremely low salary of the employees in the agriculture sector is also one of the important factors for low agriculture productivity. • Capacity of research and extension services One of the springboards for agricultural improvement is the generation of relevant technological information and its extension to farmers. The capacity in this field has been severely deteriorated for many years mainly due to lack of staff incentives and physical infrastructure. • Limited supplies of good quality seeds, fertilizer and pesticides Iraq was self sufficient in quality wheat seed and fertilizer production and supply before the sanctions. The capacity of seed production and processing and fertilizer production has severely deteriorated during the last decade. Current production can supply less than 20% of the total need of the country. • Soil salinity and fertility Nearly 70% of the cultivable land is estimated to suffer from salinity threat. Shortage of fertilizer supply forced farmers to reduce application rates which greatly reduced overall fertility levels of soil. This was further aggravated by introduction of Monoculture tradition following high mechanization of agriculture . This practice that caused fast depletion of soil fertility and increased soil erosion. Monoculture farming has led to increased weeds, pests and disease population in the crop fields. Insect pests and weeds Insect pests such as sun pest in wheat and barley, bug and borer in date palm, whitefly in citrus and vegetables and mites in fruits and vegetables have caused serious damage to agricultural production . Similarly, several broad and narrow leaf weeds in major crops have also led to low crop yields. Many diseases cause substantial loss in vegetable and fruit production. . • Land holdings, tenure and credit facilities With an average farm size of less than 10 ha, uncertain tenure and absence of functioning credit system, farmers have limited opportunity to improve agricultural product and income. • Post harvest losses Most of the soft fruits and vegetables delivered to the wholesale markets have been damaged by inappropriate handling, packaging and transport. The quality of grains is poor mainly due to admixture of foreign materials and weed seeds. • Agricultural marketing Market intelligence, pricing mechanisms and physical facilities are not sufficient to motivate farmers to strive for greater profit through increased production or improved quality. • Heavy infestation of weeds in the river banks and silted canals Due to drought, water levels went down to record low in the 30 year history of Iraq during 1999 and 2000, which increased weed population along river banks and canals. • The food basket While the provision of Food Basket has been greatly supporting the food availability and nutritional intake of the population, it had a negative impact on agriculture. All the items under food basket are imported. Since there is no provision of purchasing local produce for food basket, there is no incentive to farmers to improve or increase crop production. .
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 09:59:15 +0000
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