Due to a lack of water, rice planting was put on hold for two years in Iraq. However, the country is currently studying a strain of rice that uses less water than the varieties that are typically cultivated.
Mahdi Sahar Al-Jubouri, the deputy minister of agriculture, told Reuters that the nation has set aside 150 sq km (58 sq miles) for rice cultivation this season with a projected yield of 150,000 tons. According to officials, the abundance of water is a result of heavy winter rainfall and the expectation of increased water flows from Turkiye.
This comes after a two-year production prohibition during which only 5 to 10 sq km of rice were planted each year for the purpose of extracting seeds due to a water shortage caused, according to experts, by upstream dams constructed by Turkiye and Iran, less rainfall, and other issues related to climate change.
Iraq is among the top 10 importers of wheat and rice in the world, helping to support a sizable food rationing scheme that dates back to the days of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
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