Agriculture in Iraq

Abstract

The climate of Iraq is of the subtropical semi-dry type; however, the country was rich in water resources until a few decades ago. The climate change, the construction of many dams on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the neighboring countries, wasting water, and mismanagement caused water shortages. Now, there is a need to decrease consumption, good management of water resources and determining the water requirements and water footprints of the major crops because agriculture is the first consumer of water. The FAO CROPWAT 8.0 simulation model, the CLIMWAT 2.0 tool, and the Aqua-Crop model can be used in Iraq to find the crop water requirements (CWR), irrigation schedules and water footprint (WF) for major crops, the Aqua-Crop software can predict the effects of water deficits on crop productivity or yield to improve irrigation under limited water conditions. All of that is to improve the management of water resources to cope with drought. The objectives of this proposal study beside the calculating of wheat water footprint are to assess the capability of the AquaCrop model to simulate wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) performance in hot dry conditions under full and deficient water conditions in south of Iraq, to study the effect of various irrigation scenarios (stages of crop growth and water depth applied) on wheat yield. The AquaCrop model will be evaluated with experimental data during the field experiment. The AquaCrop model can accurately simulate root zone, crop biomass and grain yield soil water content, with less than 10 percent standardized root mean square error (RMSE). Keywords: Water, Agriculture, AquaCrop, Iraq.