ICARDA Caravan 18/19

Rebuilding Agriculture in Iraq: The Role of ICARDA

In the face of wars and drought, Iraqi agriculture is under increasing pressure to feed an estimated population of 26 million that is growing at an annual rate of more than 2.8%. It is estimated that Iraq will need US$ 3.5 billion to import basic food to meet the annual shortages during the next decade. Like other countries in the region, Iraq faces the limitation of natural resources, particularly arable land and water. Climatic features, especially the low and highly variable rainfall, along with soil salinity buildup, limit the options available to farmers. ICARDA, with other international research agencies, is working on programs to revitalize the agricultural sector in Iraq.

Innovations being exploited in Iraq include the high-yielding barley variety Rihane-03 (top). Awassi sheep (center) have also been the focus of a ram improvement program to produce higher quality breeding stock in collabroration with the IPA Agricultural Research Center. Ewe milk production has been increased by the introduction of forage legumes such as Vicia sativa (bottom), either into continuous barley cropping systems or to replace fallow.

Agriculture in Iraq has suffered because of wars, drought, economic sanctions, and other internal and external factors. Agricultural production in Iraq also remains constrained by lack of quality seed, herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, animal vaccines, machinery, irrigation equipment and spare parts. Land degradation, salinization, and declining crop yields due to land degradation and lack of inputs are serious problems, especially in the irrigated lands.

Estimates of cultivable land areas vary from 5 to 8 million ha. The demographic pressure on the land, combined with the need to produce more food from a shrinking resource base of land and water, are forcing farmers to follow exploitative production practices that maximize short-term returns at the expense of long-term sustainability.

Renewable fresh water resources are estimated at about 2000 m³/person/year, originating mainly from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; however, Iraq faces huge water problems caused by geographic, topographic and management factors. Decreasing water resources and deterioration of irrigation systems call for a structural readjustment of the agricultural sector.

In the drier areas, rural livelihoods are based on agropastoral systems of production, in which small ruminants (sheep and goats) represent the principal source of income. A generation ago, natural pastures met a large proportion of the feed needs of the small ruminants. Feed resources, however, have been reduced by overgrazing, cultivation of rangelands for crop and tree production, removal of vegetation for fuel wood, and the resulting soil erosion. Today, a large proportion of the feed needs must be met by grain, crop residues, and supplemental feeding of concentrates. The livestock sector has also suffered because of shortages of veterinary services and vaccines. The number of farm animals declined and meat and milk production dropped by 24% during the late 1980s as compared with the 1970s.

Iraq is within ICARDA's ecoregional and geographical mandate region, and, despite the difficult conditions, the Iraq/ICARDA cooperation has been strong since ICARDA’s foundation in 1977. The focal points of the collaboration have been the Ministry of Agriculture and the IPA Agricultural Research Center, Abu Ghraib, Baghdad. The collaboration involves joint research, plant genetic resource conservation, and human resource capacity building, in partnership with IPA scientists and the agricultural universities in Baghdad and Mosul.

Crop Biodiversity

Iraq lies at the eastern end of the Fertile Crescent, which encompasses an area of mega-diversity of important food crop and pasture species. It is one of the nuclear centers where numerous species of temperate-zone agriculture originated. These crops provide some 38% of the human diet globally. Their wild relatives and landraces of enormous genetic diversity are found even today, representing a key resource not only for Iraq but also for the world for breeding improved crop varieties.

Table 1. Accessions from Iraq conserved in ICARDA's genebank.
Crop	No. of accessions
Aegilops (wild wheat)	64
Barley	172
Bread wheat	129
Chickpea	37
Durum wheat	135
Faba bean	86
Forage and range species	26
Lathyrus (grasspea)	10
Lentil	32
Medicago (alfalfa)	144
Pisum (peas)	3
Trifolium (clovers)	72
Vicia (vetches)	16
Wild barley (Hordeum spp.)	22
Wild wheat (Triticum spp.)	55
Total	1003

To conserve its genetic resource collections, the national program of Iraq sent hundreds of accessions of different crops during the 1990s to ICARDA for safe deposit in its genebank. The number of Iraqi accessions held in major genebanks outside Iraq is limited; the largest collection is at USDA (1113 accessions): ICARDA holds 1003 accessions (Table 1), and VIR (N.I. Vavilov Scientific Research Institute of Plant Genetic Resources) in Russia has 403 accessions. The holdings of Iraqi accessions in other CG Center genebanks are: CIMMYT, 2 accessions; ICRISAT, 23; ILRI, 2; and IRRI, 15. ICARDA has made three joint collection missions in Iraq in the last decade, and distributed 1501 germplasm accessions from its genebank holdings to Iraq for use in crop improvement programs.

Iraq is among the few countries that did not sign the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop a national biodiversity strategy and action plan, and national legislation for access to plant genetic resources.

Crop Improvement

Over the years, ICARDA has distributed a wide range of improved genetic material of barley, bread wheat and durum wheat, lentil, faba bean, chickpea, and vetches to breeding programs in Iraq. Additionally, ICARDA supplied germplasm nurseries to the northern Kurdish area under the FAO 'Oil for Food' Program. As a result, improved varieties of barley, spring bread wheat, durum wheat, lentil, and chickpea have been released to Iraqi farmers (Table 2) and are being grown on large areas. For example, the improved barley variety 'Rihane 03' is estimated to be grown on about 250,000 hectares in rainfed areas in northern Iraq, representing about 18% of the total (1.4 million ha) area sown to barley annually. The variety proved popular because of the white color of its seed (compared with the black seed of local varieties), which made it suitable for mixing with wheat in bread-making. Another variety 'Zanbaka,' selected from a local Syrian landrace, is better adapted to the drier environments and is also proving popular with farmers.

Table 2. Improved crop varieties released in Iraq using ICARDA-supplied germplasm.
Crop Name	Year	Variety	Other Name
Barley	1993 1994 1994 1994	Rihane03 IPA 265 IPA 9 IPA 7	-
Chickpea	1992 1992 2000	Rafidain Dijla IPA 510	ILC 482 ILC 3279 FLIP 86-5C
Durum wheat	1994 1997	Waha Iraq Korifla	CM17904-B-3M-1Y-1Y-0 SK-0AP
Lentil	1992 1998	Baraka IPA 98	ILL 5582 ILL 5883
Spring Bread Wheat	1989 1994 1994 1994 1997 1998	Es14 Hamra Adnanya Abu Ghraib IPA 99 Vee 'S'

Responding to the need for maximizing production from the limited water resources available, recent joint research in northern Iraq has revealed that, in dry years, supplementary irrigation during critical drought periods can increase wheat yields by up to 100%.

Integrated Crop and Livestock Production

Iraq participates in a regional adaptive research program-"Development of Integrated Crop/Livestock Production in Low Rainfall Areas of WANA (the "Mashreq/Maghreb Project")"-- coordinated by ICARDA from its West Asia Regional Program in Jordan. The Mashreq/ Maghreb project has developed a community approach that has helped to produce, with the participation of community members and other stakeholders, packages of "best-bet" technical, institutional, and policy options to support livestock production in dry areas. The community approach has also focused on strengthening appropriate local institutional support for community development plans. The policy options were researched jointly with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Considerable progress has been made in the development and delivery of technological packages related to on-farm feed production, alternative feed sources, and improvement and management of small ruminants. New varieties of barley, oat, vetch and triticale adapted to harsh environments have been tested and adopted by farmers. Fodder shrubs and cactus are widely used to

Feed-blocks ready for distribution in Iraq. There is nothing new in using crop residues for feed, but this project should take it a long step further.

augment feed resources. Feed-blocks made from agro-industrial by-products have become an integral part of the feed calendar of small ruminants in Iraq, and are produced entirely by the private sector. Small-ruminant management practices, including the introduction of improved breeding stock, practices to enhance fertility and lambing rates, and early weaning, have become popular with farmers. Rangeland rehabilitation has focused mainly on the plantation of fodder shrubs (e.g. Atriplex) and cactus on private lands. Farmers have started planting these fodder crops in their own fields.

Human Resource and Capacity Building

Iraq has a well-trained cadre of agricultural scientists, many with PhDs from Europe and USA, who have been ICARDA's principal partners in collaborative research activities. Since 1979, ICARDA has trained a total of 347 Iraqi scientists in various training courses ranging from group, long- and short-term courses, to individual non-degree and degree training at ICARDA headquarters and outside Syria, in close collaboration with advanced national, regional, and international institutions. More recently, ICARDA has trained Iraqi scientists in the application of biotechnology, expert systems, GIS and remote sensing for crop improvement, and natural resource management. Seven Iraqi scientists have been assisted to complete their PhD research, and two for MSc, in

ICARDA, in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), organized a training workshop for Iraqi researchers on policy and property rights in 1999/2000. Standing third from the right is Dr Kamil Shideed, National Research Coordinator of the Iraq/ICARDA collaborative program.

collaboration with appropriate agricultural universities in both developed and developing countries. ICARDA is also working with the University of Hawaii within the framework of the USAID-funded Partnership for Revitalizing Agricultural Higher Education and Development (HEAD) in Iraq. In addition to field research opportunities, students and scientists have access to ICARDA's large scientific databases.

Database of Professionals for Reconstruction of Iraq

To accelerate the pace of reconstruction, Iraq needs qualified experts to undertake key tasks in various fields. The challenge is to identify qualified Iraqis and other nationals for the available jobs and consultancies in government, NGOs, the private sector and other agencies working in Iraq. With support from the Economic and Social Committee for West Asia of the United Nations (ESCWA), ICARDA has set up an electronic database which has information on some Iraqi nationals, their qualifications and experience, and where they are based in the world. The database can be accessed at . Iraqi nationals can register into the database to help research and development agencies contact them for consultancies and full-time positions in Iraq.

Future Iraq/ICARDA Cooperation

Participants of the ninth Iraq/ICARDA Coordination Meeting, held in Amman, Jordan, 16-17 November 2003.

ICARDA held its ninth biennial coordination meeting with Iraq in November 2003, in which scientists from Iraq and ICARDA reviewed the immediate actions that need to be taken to restart agricultural research and rehabilitate the agricultural sector in the country. Priority actions will include the following: (i) immediately multiply and deliver high-quality seed of adapted varieties, (ii) provide technical assistance in the development of sustainable agriculture in the longer term, and (iii) develop a strategy that will ensure a close integration of relief, rehabilitation and development projects. Within the framework of these plans, ICARDA worked with Iraqi colleagues to develop a program of large-scale on-farm demonstrations with improved varieties of barley, wheat, chickpea, lentil and vetches under different agroecological conditions in the 2003/2004 cropping season, to be implemented with support from USAID. For this program, ICARDA provided, in December 2003, over 20 tonnes of improved seeds of cereal and legume varieties known to be adapted to Iraq's environmental conditions. The seeds have also become the basis for a farm-based seed multiplication program in Iraq. Furthermore, ICARDA scientists have worked with Iraqi colleagues on measures to kick-start the seed program.

ICARDA will adopt a consortium approach to support Iraq. To date, CIMMYT, CIP, IRRI, IPGRI, IFPRI and ILRI, among the CGIAR Centers, have already consented to be partners. But an effective program for rebuilding agriculture in Iraq calls for the participation of several other players including local institutions and NGOs, UN agencies, other international research institutes, and donors. The country is in need of substantial humanitarian, rehabilitation, and reconstruction assistance to regain its food security and infrastructure development.