Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq has moved forward with its 2026 summer farming plan,expanding cultivation and restoring rice production after a one-yearsuspension, as improved rainfall and higher reservoir levels offer limitedrelief to a system still under pressure.
The plan, recently approved by the Ministries of Agricultureand Water Resources, includes summer maize, vegetables, cotton, sunflower,sesame, and millet in an effort to balance food demand with limited waterresources.
“Rice, which is among Iraq’s most water-intensive andpolitically sensitive crops, returns to summer fields this year,” Mehdi Damadal-Qaisi, adviser at the Ministry of Agriculture, told Shafaq News, pointingout that the crop remains part of the country’s strategic food basket and feedsdirectly into the public ration system.
Cultivation will be concentrated in Najaf, al-Diwaniyah, andal-Muthanna, with smaller plots spread across Diyala, Maysan, Babil, and DhiQar. Najaf leads with 170,000 dunams, followed by 120,000 in al-Diwaniyah,while al-Muthanna receives 11,900 dunams.
Overall, the summer plan covers about 1.44 million dunams. Of that, 1,078,188 dunams depend on river irrigation, while 362,277 dunams areirrigated through groundwater wells.
: Iraq’s water crisis: A structural rewrite of agricultural governance
Yet the water situation remains uneven across the country. Some regions have benefited from improved flows, but levels on the Euphratescontinue weak, leaving uncertainty over how smoothly the plan can be carriedout.
Speaking to our agency, water and agricultural expert Adelal-Mukhtar characterized Euphrates storage as “constrained,’’ adding that whilethe agricultural layout for the season appears workable, caution staysnecessary given current conditions.
He also pointed to maize cultivation as relatively wellstructured, while observing that Iraq’s reliance on fluctuating inflows fromTurkiye and Iran continues to shape planting decisions year after year.
For former parliamentary Agriculture Committee member ZozanKojer, however, the issue extends beyond seasonal figures. Describing the planas one that shifts annually depending on water reserves, drought conditions,rainfall patterns, upstream releases, and market demand, she urged strongeroversight of planting areas, broader adoption of modern irrigation systems, andwider use of laser land levelling.
More critical assessments view the renewed expansion of ricefarming as a reflection of deeper structural limits. Water expert Tahsinal-Mousawi cautioned that allocating more than 300,000 dunams for rice underunstable water conditions carries considerable risk, especially as Iraqcontinues to lack binding agreements on water shares with upstream countries.
“The dependence on flood irrigation and short-term seasonalplanning is a bad approach,” he warned, stressing that without a shift inpriorities, Iraq risks repeating a familiar cycle of temporary relief followedby renewed shortages, as climate change accelerates desertification, soilsalinity, and declining river flows across the country.
: Iraq faces severe drought as water inflows decline