Drought threatens Iraq

Iraqi Agriculture Minister Abdallah Hamid Mahmud al-Salih warned yesterday of the possibility of Iraq being exposed to a disaster due to the drought which threatens Iraqi agriculture, saying that Iraq is suffering for the second year from a severe drought, and he called for economizing the use of water.

He also asserted that his ministry is using drop irrigation in an attempt to reduce the water deficit.

The Iraqi irrigation and agriculture ministries took a series of procedures to confront the dry conditions, topped by giving priority to seed production.

Iraqi sources criticized the water projects implemented by Turkey and Syria, asserting that these projects affected the water averages in the Degla and Euphrates rivers.