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MNF Plant Seeds for the Future of Iraqi Agriculture

Sep-27-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

(TFO Press Release)

By Sgt. Fred Minnick

MOSUL, IRAQ (September 26, 2004) – Multi-National Forces are currently planting seeds for the future of agriculture in the Ninevah Province. In cooperation with the universities of Texas A&M, Colorado State, Kansas State and the World Wide Wheat Company, Multi-National Forces will distribute more than 1,000 pounds of wheat seeds to Iraqi farmers by October.

The Ninevah Province is considered to be the wheat belt of Iraq, producing 50 percent of the country’s wheat. Over the past 10 years, this region has not been able to keep up with Iraq’s wheat demand. During the Saddam Hussein regime, farmers were expected to continuously produce wheat, never leaving their fields fallow. This tactic degraded the soil, leaving few nutrients for the next year’s crop, increasing the chances for crop disease and fungus, and eventually resulting in fewer yields.

To help this area’s wheat yields meet demands, leaders from the World Wide Wheat Company in Arizona began meeting with agriculturalists from Texas A&M, KSU and CSU to determine what wheat species would best survive Iraq’s arid climate. They chose several winter wheat variants from Arizona because the state’s climate is very similar to Iraq.

Once the seeds arrive in Iraq, Multi-National Forces will give them to the Ninevah Directorate of Agriculture, who will distribute them to area farmers. Lt. Col. John Maxwell, food and agriculture team leader for the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion, said the Iraqis will plant the seed variants in test plots to see which species show the most potential. Maxwell said the Multi-National Forces will assist the Ninevah agricultural specialists plant, monitor and reproduce the seeds.

“This project will have slight impact in the next year’s wheat production. We will really see the impact in about two years after the farmers have had a chance to see which seeds fare the best,” he said. “With proper management, these wheat variants will definitely make a difference for the better for Iraq’s wheat production.”


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