2023-06-15 23:59:51
Baghdad / Obelisk Al-Hadath: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Thursday that despite an increase in global production of corn, milk or meat in 2023, food imports for the poorest countries will shrink due to the continued high prices, while the famous ambergris crop in Iraq is vulnerable. to collapse, as Iraq is considered one of the countries that enjoy a suitable climate for the growth and cultivation of ambergris.
Rice cultivation in Iraq is spread mainly in the areas on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. In these areas, there is a system of water canals and dams to provide the water needed to irrigate the rice fields. Traditional irrigation techniques such as flood irrigation and drip irrigation are used in rice cultivation.
The FAO said in its semi-annual report on growth prospects that while high-income countries will continue to increase their imports, the bill of 47 least developed countries, located mainly in Africa, is expected to decline by 1.5 percent this year.
But the decline will be more pronounced and may decline to about 5% in developing countries that are net importers of food products such as Tunisia, Egypt or Pakistan and Turkey.
In Iraq, the acute water shortage crisis in Iraq raises fears of an acute shortage in crop cultivation, including amber rice, which is famous for its age and historical heritage.
Dhi Qar, Al-Muthanna, Babil, Najaf, and Nasiriyah are among the most prominent rice-growing areas in the south and center of Iraq. These areas are characterized by fertile soil and provide the necessary water through rivers and waterways.
The Iraqis are among the peoples of the region who consume the most rice, with more than one million and 600 thousand tons annually, and according to estimates by officials in the Ministry of Commerce, they confirmed that Iraq does not produce more than a quarter of this amount, while the rest is imported from several countries.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, Muhammad al-Khuza’i, said, “It was decided to plant a million dunums of agricultural lands that are irrigated by groundwater, but the problem is in the cultivation of strawberries, which need a lot of water and long periods, and thus the plan to grow strawberries (ambar rice) in Iraq has shrunk.” To five thousand dunums only, and by 3 thousand dunums in Najaf Governorate and two thousand dunums in Diwaniyah Governorate.
Al-Khuzaie noted that the area that was cultivated with ambergris in the past year 2022 was 10 thousand dunums, attributing this significant decrease in the areas cultivated with this crop to the fact that “the water abundance in Iraq is now less than last year.”
The FAO described the decline in the volume of food imports in these two groups as a “worrying development” and suggests a decline in their purchasing power.
And while the prices of oils or grains declined after peaking in March 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine, they are still at high levels today. Fruit, vegetable or dairy products continue to rise “slowing demand”, especially in poorer countries.
And the Food and Agriculture Organization confirms that “what reinforces these concerns is that the decline in international prices for a number of basic foodstuffs did not translate, or at least not in full, into a decrease in prices at the local retail level.”
Globally, spending on food imports is expected to reach a new high in 2023, although it is expected to “grow at a much slower pace than last year”.
After a jump of 18% in 2021 and then 11% in 2022, the bill will rise by 1.5% to $1,980 billion.
The production of rice, coarse grains (corn and sorghum), oilseeds, sugar, milk or meat, with the exception of beef, is expected to be more abundant in 2023 and 2024.
Coarse grain production will increase by 3% to reach 1,513 million tons, “a new record,” thanks to the abundant harvest in Brazil.
On the other hand, wheat production is expected to decline by 3% after a record set in the previous season (777 million tons) due to lower harvests in Russia and Australia.
Iraq suffers from a great shortage of water, as a spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture said, “The cultivation of amber rice needs irrigation by immersion, and this expansion of areas will face a problem in meeting its water needs.”
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