Farmers seek protection for Najaf rice revival
Shafaq News- Najaf
Rice farmers in Iraq’s Najaf province have urged the government to help cover production costs after improved water supplies revived fields left largely uncultivated during last year’s drought.
In Al-Issa, one of the main rice growing areas in the province’s Kufa district, farmer Abu Amir Al-Issawi told Shafaq News that he planted more than 17.5 hectares with Amber and Jasmine rice this season after he and his brothers had stopped cultivation last year because of insufficient irrigation supplies.
Farmers still pay for seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and water pumps themselves, Al-Issawi explained, calling for state support to protect rice production and sustain the recovery.
Iraq approved about 90,500 hectares for rice cultivation in 2026 after drought restricted planting to just 50 hectares last year. Deputy Agriculture Minister Mahdi Sahar Al-Jubouri attributed the expansion to greater water availability in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; water expert Harry Istepanian told Reuters that Iraq’s reserves rose from about 4.5 billion cubic meters in 2025 to around 30 billion cubic meters this year.
Read more: Iraq’s water crisis: A structural rewrite of agricultural governance
The Agriculture Ministry expects rice output to reach about 300,000 metric tons this season, although Iraq will still need to import around 800,000 tons to meet domestic demand.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization Representative in Iraq Salah Al-Hajj Hassan previously told Shafaq News that mechanical rice transplanting could cut water consumption by up to 30%, seed use from about 150 kilograms to 60 kilograms per unit area, and pesticide use by up to 80%, while raising yields by 15% to 20%.
