Najaf, Iraq: After seeing his once-fertile fields shrink in recent years due to severe droughts, Iraqi farmer Muntazer al-Jufi is fighting back using more durable seeds and water-saving irrigation techniques.
“This is the first time we are using modern techniques that use less water to grow rice,” said Jufi, 40, as he surveyed his land in the central province of Najaf.
“There’s a huge difference” compared to flooding the fields, Joufi added, referring to the traditional method where the soil is submerged throughout the summer.
Four years of drought and poor rainfall have slashed rice production in Iraq, which is still recovering from years of war and turmoil. Since rice and bread are staple foods, Iraq is producing less rice.
The United Nations says Iraq is among the world's five most vulnerable countries to climate change.
Jufi is one of the farmers supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, whose experts have developed new methods to help preserve Iraq's rice production.
Their work involves pairing hardy rice grains with modern irrigation systems to replace flooding in a country struggling with water shortages, heat waves and falling river levels.
Under the scorching Iraqi sun, where temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), Jufi wades through muddy fields, pausing to tend to malfunctioning water sprinklers scattered across his one-hectare (2.5-acre) property.
Iraqi rice crops typically require between 10,000 and 12,000 million cubic meters of water during their five-month growing period.
However, experts say the new method, which uses sprinklers and drip irrigation, uses up to 70 percent less water than traditional flooding, which requires workers to ensure that fields are completely covered with water.
Now, Joufi says, “All it takes is one person to turn on the sprayer… and the water will reach every part of the area.”
Experts from the Ministry of Agriculture said that during the years of drought, rice planting areas have decreased from more than 30,000 hectares to only 5,000 hectares.
“Due to drought and water shortages, we have to use modern irrigation methods and new seeds,” said Abdel Kasem Javad Musa, who leads the team of experts.
They experimented with different types of sprinklers, drip irrigation systems and five drought-tolerant, low-water seed varieties, hoping to find the best combination.
“We want to learn which seed genotypes respond better to irrigation using sprinklers instead of flooding,” Musa said.
Last year, Al-Ghari rice, a hybrid derived from Iraq's prized amber rice, and South Asian jasmine seeds, performed well when grown using small water sprayers, so experts are offering the mix to farmers like Joufi in the hopes of getting the best results.
“At the end of the season, we will make recommendations,” Musa said, adding that he also hopes to introduce three new varieties next year that have a shorter growing season.
In addition to the drought, authorities have blamed dams built upstream by Iraq's powerful neighbors Iran and Turkey for the dramatic drop in water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have irrigated Iraq for thousands of years.
Water shortages have forced many farmers to abandon their fields and authorities have had to drastically reduce agricultural activities to ensure there is enough drinking water for Iraq’s 43 million people.
In 2022, the authorities restricted rice cultivation to just 1,000 hectares in Najaf and southern Diwaniyah province, the heart of the amber rice crop.
Recently, farmers in Diwaniya protested, demanding that the government allow them to farm on their land after a two-year hiatus.
Although this winter has seen heavy rains that have helped alleviate water shortages, the authorities have only allowed farmers to plant rice on 30 percent of the total area.
“The last best year was 2020,” farmer Fayez Al-Yassiri said in his field in Diwaniyah, where he hopes to grow amber and jasmine rice.
Iraq is OPEC's second-largest oil producer, but despite its vast oil and gas reserves, it still relies on imports to meet its energy needs and suffers from chronic power outages.
Yassiri called on the authorities to provide assistance, especially by providing electricity and pesticides to farmers.
His cousin Bassem Yassiri is less hopeful. “The lack of water has put an end to agriculture in the region,” he said.
