عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Drought-hit Iraq's Crop Farmland to be Halved

An aerial view taken on September 24, 2021 shows a dried up river bed in the Al-Huwaiza marshes on Iraq's border with Iran Asaad NIAZI AFP/File
An aerial view taken on September 24, 2021 shows a dried up river bed in the Al-Huwaiza marshes on Iraq's border with Iran Asaad NIAZI AFP/File
TT
20
TT

Drought-hit Iraq's Crop Farmland to be Halved

An aerial view taken on September 24, 2021 shows a dried up river bed in the Al-Huwaiza marshes on Iraq's border with Iran Asaad NIAZI AFP/File
An aerial view taken on September 24, 2021 shows a dried up river bed in the Al-Huwaiza marshes on Iraq's border with Iran Asaad NIAZI AFP/File

Extreme water shortages in Iraq will halve the area of crops being grown next harvest, the authorities said Monday, following UN warnings calling for "urgent" action.

Iraq's government said the area of farmland with crops would this 2021-2022 season cover "50 percent of the cultivated area last year", according to a statement published by the state news agency INA.

Iraq is struggling amid the consequences of dire droughts exacerbated by global warming, compounded by the extraction of water from the Tigris and Euphrates, rivers shared with Turkey and Syria.

"The impact of water shortages in Iraq is becoming evident through the lower crop yields for 2021. Urgent action is required to confront climate change," UN agencies said in a joint statement Saturday, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP).

"Resilient, modern food systems are important for long term food security and the sustainable economic growth of Iraq," it added.

The FAO estimates that "by the end of the season, wheat production will be 70 percent lower and barley production negligible."

Agricultural produce of Iraq usually includes wheat, barley, dates, tomatoes and rice.

According to Agency France Presse, Salah El Hajj Hassan, FAO's chief in Iraq, said Monday that the agency was working with government ministries to support farmers to "increase their income, make better use of available resources and cope with drought".

Funds from the European Union are supporting a project to repair irrigation infrastructure in the north, including canals and pumping stations.

In August, 13 aid agencies, including Mercy Corps and the Norwegian Refugee Council, warned seven million people in Iraq risk losing access to water amid rising temperatures and record low levels of rainfall, creating an "unprecedented catastrophe" forcing more from their homes.

Most Viewed

 
Varieties

Not Just Penguins on Antarctic Islands Hit by Trump Tariffs

Australia's remote, uninhabited outposts were slugged with US levies - AFP
Australia's remote, uninhabited outposts were slugged with US levies - AFP
TT
20
TT

Not Just Penguins on Antarctic Islands Hit by Trump Tariffs

Australia's remote, uninhabited outposts were slugged with US levies - AFP
Australia's remote, uninhabited outposts were slugged with US levies - AFP

A pair of sub-Antarctic volcanic islands unexpectedly hit by Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs may be the world's most inhospitable spot for international trade.

When Australia's remote, uninhabited outposts were slugged with US levies, memes of their best-known residents -- king penguins -- exploded on social media.

In fact, scientists say there is a lot more than penguins to the Heard and McDonald Islands territory, home to volcanoes and an "amazing" array of sea birds, elephant seals, mosses, grasses and herbs, according to AFP.

Even for hardened researchers, however, the islands, which lie 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) southwest of mainland Australia, are fearsomely wild.

They are not conducive to creating an industry for trade, nor for countries re-exporting goods to the United States in search of a tariff loophole.

No human is known to have set foot there since 2016, and access is allowed only with permission from the Australian government.

- No port, no runway -

"There is no infrastructure or commercial industry of any sort on land," said Justine Shaw, a researcher who camped on Heard Island for two months in 2023.

To get there, scientists approach in inflatable boats, or fly in by helicopter from a research ship docked offshore, said Shaw, a conservation scientist with Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future.

The only signs of human occupation are the wood-and-metal remnants of a research station abandoned in 1955 and battered ever since by the freezing rain and wind.

"It's a true wilderness," Shaw said.

But also the "most amazing place" -- with sweeping cliffs and glaciers groaning as they melt, populated by thousands of king penguins, elephant seals and sea birds.

On the ground, there are 70 types of lichen, huge leafy plants, and cushion plants that resemble lush green carpets.

- 'Storms raged' -

Marine ecologist Andrew Constable oversaw a 40-day research expedition to Heard Island in 2004.

For days, a fierce storm stopped them from landing.

"At one point, we had to point the ship into the sea for nine days as storms raged and we couldn't do anything," Constable said.

"The waves were pretty big: they were 10 metres (32 feet) tall."

But Constable said scientists were able to study its melting glaciers, seal and penguin behaviour and how human activity impacted its pristine ecosystem.

One of the key aims for future research trips will be to find out how much more of Heard Island's icy terrain has turned green, he said.

Researchers will also need to probe changing food webs and document marine debris and fishing gear washing up on the coast, Constable said.

With so little human activity, it is one of the few places "where you see the world in action".