Iraqi farmers "reeling" from crop policy losses

Shafaq News/ Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture is causing “heavy” financial losses for farmers by limiting crop purchases under a new marketing policy, a member of parliament said on Saturday.

Zainab al-Khazraji, an MP for Dhi Qar governorate, told Shafaq News that the ministry's current plan “allows only part of a farmer’s total cultivated land to be marketed to the government.”

“If a farmer plants 90 donums (90,000m²), the ministry only accepts 30 donums’ (30,000m²) worth…This decision ignores the millions of dinars in losses farmers are facing.”

Khazraji said the policy has hit farmers in Dhi Qar and other central and southern provinces hard, and called on the government to prioritize domestic production by supporting the agricultural sector instead of “making farmers bear the cost of flawed policies.”

She added that strict enforcement of the agricultural plan, alongside ongoing crop imports from neighboring countries, has severely harmed local producers.

Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture said it had banned the import and domestic sale of 37 agricultural products while authorizing the import of seven others.

The government’s recent agricultural policy changes have sparked controversy, marked by protests – especially the transfer of the Khor Al-Zubair Fertilizer Plant into private investment.