Basra beats salinity with drip irrigation harvest

Shafaq News/ Wheat and barley cultivation in western Basra has succeeded despite challenging soil and water conditions, thanks to modern drip irrigation technology, a local agricultural official said on Tuesday.

Hadi Hussein, director of Basra’s Agriculture Department, told Shafaq News Agency that the use of T-Tape drip irrigation in the Zubair and Safwan districts has helped overcome the region’s sandy soils and saline groundwater, allowing for the expansion of strategic crop cultivation.

“Drip irrigation reduces the impact of water salinity by delivering precise amounts directly to plant roots, preventing salt accumulation on the soil surface and improving water and fertilizer efficiency,” Hussein explained.

According to the official, the area cultivated under the agricultural plan in Zubair reached 14,525 (14.5 km2) dunams, with an additional 13,134 dunams planted outside the plan. In Safwan, the total cultivated land—both planned and unplanned—stood at 5,500 dunams, bringing the total for this season’s desert farmland to 33,159 dunams.