Najaf, Iraq: After watching his once-lush rice fields shrink in recent years due to relentless drought, Iraqi farmer Mantazer al-Jawfi has fought back by using tougher seeds and less expensive irrigation techniques.
“This is the first time we are using modern techniques that use less water” to grow rice, said Jofi, 40, as he surveyed his land in the central province of Najaf.
There is a “huge difference” compared to flooding the field, added Juffey, referring to a traditional method in which the land must remain under water all summer.
But four consecutive years of drought and reduced rainfall have stifled rice production in Iraq, which is still recovering from years of war and chaos, where rice and bread are staples of the diet.
The United Nations says Iraq is one of the five most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change.
Jofi is among the farmers supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, whose experts are developing innovative methods to save Iraq's rice production.
Their work involves pairing resilient rice seeds with modern irrigation systems to replace flooding in a country plagued by water shortages, heat waves and shrinking rivers.
Under the scorching Iraqi sun, as temperatures soared to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), Jofi trudged across the muddy field, pausing to tend to faulty sprinklers spread across his one hectare (2.5 acres) of land.
The Iraqi rice crop typically requires between 10 and 12 billion cubic meters of water during the five-month growing period.
However, experts say new methods using sprinklers and drip irrigation use 70 percent less water than the traditional flooding method, when workers had to make sure fields were completely covered with water.
“Now it only takes one person to turn on the sprinklers and the water reaches every part of the ground,” Jofi said.
Agriculture Ministry experts say that during the years of drought, the area under rice cultivation has decreased from more than 30,000 hectares to 5,000 hectares.
Abdulkazem Javad Moussa, who heads a team of these experts, said: “Due to the drought and lack of water, we have to use modern irrigation methods and new seeds.
They have experimented with different types of sprinklers, drip irrigation and five different types of seeds that are drought tolerant and use less water, hoping to find the best combination.
“We want to learn which seed genotypes respond well to sprinkler irrigation instead of flooding,” Musa said.
Last year, al-Ghari — a genotype derived from Iraqi amber rice — and South Asian jasmine seeds did well when grown with small sprinklers, so experts suggested the combination to farmers like Jofi, hoping for the best. I see.
“At the end of the season, we will make recommendations,” Musa said, adding that he hopes to introduce three new seed varieties with a shorter planting season next year.
In addition to the drought, officials blame upstream dams built by Iraq's powerful neighbors, Iran and Turkey, for lowering the water levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have irrigated Iraq for thousands of years.
Water shortages have forced many farmers off their land, and authorities have drastically reduced farm activity to ensure enough drinking water for Iraq's 43 million people.
In 2022, authorities limited the area under rice cultivation to 1,000 hectares in Najaf and the southern province of Diwaniyeh, the center of amber rice cultivation.
Recently, farmers protested in Diwaniyah and asked the government to allow them to farm their land after two years of suspension.
But despite heavy winter rains that helped alleviate water shortages, authorities have only allowed them to grow rice on 30 percent of their land.
“The last good year was 2020,” said farmer Fayez Eliasiri at his farm in Divaniyeh.
Iraq is the second largest oil producer in the OPEC cartel, but despite having huge oil and gas reserves, it still depends on imports to meet its energy needs and faces chronic power outages.
Yasiri asked the officials to help the farmers especially by providing electricity and agricultural chemicals.
His cousin Bassem Yasiri was less hopeful. He said: “The lack of water has ended agriculture in this area.
