Iraq: Fighting Robs Iraqi Farmers of Harvest

Sep 29, 2014 | Omar al-Jaffal, Al Monitor
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Approximately 60% of the residents of the Salahuddin province, 175 kilometers (109 miles) north of Baghdad, work in farming. Salahuddin was ranked the top producing province in agriculture in 2012, and earned about $400 million from agricultural products. However, the ongoing military operations in the province have cost the province its plans to cultivate 900,000 acres of wheat and barley this year.

Hamadi Jiyyad is one farmer who had hoped to see an agricultural boom in 2014 and prepared his land in the Tikrit district for wheat cultivation. However, the fighting near his fields forced him and his family to flee to Baghdad, and he postponed the winter planting until next year. After the Islamic State (IS) threatened to kill Jiyyad if he did not pay it a sum of money, he left and rented a house in Baghdad. He now sits in front of the TV screen following the news and hoping that the operations will expel IS from his province. Jiyyad told Al-Monitor, "The land was not affected, just the crops. I can farm the land in the future, but this year will be a big loss. I don't know if the state will compensate us or give us loans."