Nineveh launches 60,000-hectare harvest amid farmer challenges

Shafaq News- Nineveh

Northern Iraq’s Nineveh has launched its harvest season across 600,000 dunams (60,000 hectares) under the province’s irrigated agricultural plan, Agriculture Director Abdullah Al-Obaidi announced on Tuesday.

Speaking to Shafaq News, Al-Obaidi said preparations include deploying harvesting machines and allocating fuel quotas ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 liters per harvester to ensure smooth operations. The plan covers only irrigated areas, despite millions of additional dunams cultivated outside it, a gap he warned could complicate harvesting and marketing, particularly amid expectations of strong output driven by favorable rainfall.

The directorate has submitted requests to include these areas in the government’s crop marketing system. Al-Obaidi urged Nineveh’s lawmakers to intervene and expand the plan, citing ongoing challenges, including delayed payments from the previous season.

The development comes as dozens of farmers from central and southern provinces gathered on Sunday in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to demand overdue payments and compensation, with security forces dispersing the protest using water cannons while the demonstrators approached the Green Zone, the fortified district housing government institutions and foreign missions. The General Federation of Iraqi Farmers backed the demands and called for a formal government apology.

Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani directed authorities to receive all submitted requests and ordered an investigation into the conduct of security forces, reaffirming support for the agricultural sector. Parliament Speaker Haibet Al-Halbousi also instructed the parliamentary Security and Defense Committee to summon the commanders responsible for handling the incident.

Read more: Rooted in soil: An Iraqi farmer holds on as the land changes