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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
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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.

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Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
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Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)

A lettercard penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship, days before it sank, has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction.

In the note, written to the seller's great-uncle on April 10, 1912, first-class passenger Archibald Gracie wrote of the ill-fated steamship: “It is a fine ship but I shall await my journeys end before I pass judgment on her.”

The letter was sold to a private collector from the United States on Saturday, according to auction house Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, England. The hammer price far exceeded the initial estimate price of 60,000 pounds.

The letter is believed to be the sole example in existence from Gracie from onboard the Titanic, which sank off Newfoundland after hitting an iceberg, killing about 1,500 people on its maiden voyage.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described it as an “exceptional museum grade piece.”

Gracie, who jumped from the ship and managed to scramble onto an overturned collapsible boat, was rescued by other passengers onboard a lifeboat and was taken to the R.M.S. Carpathia. He went on to write “The Truth about the Titanic,” an account of his experiences, when he returned to New York City.

Gracie boarded the Titanic in Southampton on April 10, 1912, and was assigned first-class cabin C51. His book is seen as one of the most detailed accounts of the events of the night the ship sank, Aldridge said.

Gracie did not fully recover from the hypothermia he suffered, and died of complications from diabetes in late 1912.