Iraq achieves self-sufficiency in strategic crops
Despite the floods and fires, Iraq has achieved self sufficiency in producing crops this year.
Iraqi Minister of Trade Mohammed Hashim al-Ani announced July 5 that the ministry received about 4 million tons of local wheat, a step that signals the country is ready to achieve self-sufficiency in this strategic crop.
This comes despite the fires that hit agricultural fields across Iraq and ravaged 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) of land.
Since the end of 2018, Iraq appears to have achieved self-sufficiency in many agricultural crops. This prompted the Ministry of Agriculture to ban the import of seven crops abundantly produced in the country.
The amount of land planted with grains has been so great that it has “managed to limit the impact of the recent fires on the country’s plans to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat and barley,” Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Hamid al-Nayif told Al-Monitor.
