Iraq’s Agriculture Ministry Warns of Severe Water Scarcity

AP

An image representing water scarcity.

Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture has warned that the country is entering a phase of acute water scarcity after years of drought, with water reserves falling to less than 10 billion cubic metres, amid dwindling water flows from upstream countries.

Mahdi Dhamd al-Qaisi, an adviser to the Agriculture Ministry, said in a statement obtained by PUKMEDIA that Iraq must form a permanent technical negotiating team comprising representatives from the government, parliament, civil society organisations, and the judiciary. He stressed that the team should be linked to the highest authority in the state to tackle the water crisis effectively.

According to Qaisi, the Supreme Water Committee has decided to ban the cultivation of barley, limiting it to only 200 dunams in order to preserve seed varieties. He anticipated that the winter agricultural plan would be scaled back, particularly for wheat and barley, limiting their cultivation to areas using river water or modern irrigation techniques that can reduce water consumption by up to 40%.

He added that vegetable cultivation consumes relatively little water, as it is irrigated year-round through drip irrigation. 

He said: "Since 2005, the ministry has switched to floating cage fish farming, but more recently adopted a closed system due to low water levels. Efforts are also underway to provide soft loans and encourage investment in this sector."

Qaisi noted that the ministry is moving towards the adoption of smart agriculture, employing artificial intelligence technologies such as drones and X-ray imaging. However, he lamented the loss of direct authority to address land violations and agricultural land degradation since the decentralisation of powers to the governorates in 2016.

Iraq's Minister of Water Resources Aoun Diab described this year as the most challenging in decades in terms of water availability, citing insufficient rainfall and reduced releases from upstream countries. He called for an urgent increase in water flows. 

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Agriculture and Water Committee urged action against Türkiye for failing to comply with Iraq’s agreed water quota, despite Ankara’s recent pledge to boost releases — a promise that has yet to improve the situation.

The worsening drought has hit several Iraqi governorates hard, particularly the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Maysan, causing population displacement, severe water shortages in towns and sub-districts, and the drying up of large parts of the marshlands.



PUKMEDIA