BAGHDAD, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) — The Iraqi Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved a restricted agricultural plan for the 2025-2026 winter season, limiting cultivation areas due to the ongoing severe drought sweeping the country.
A statement by the media office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said that the council voted to limit the winter plan to 1 million Iraqi dunams (2,500 square km), cultivated using surface water, in addition to 3.5 million Iraqi dunams (8,750 square km), using groundwater.
The plan also outlined strict measures required to manage water usage, stipulating “the use of modern irrigation systems for wheat crops cultivated with either groundwater or surface water.” It also warned that “the Trade Ministry shall not receive any quantity of wheat grown outside the agricultural plan set by the Agriculture Ministry.”
The restrictions came as reports of Iraq’s official al-Sabah Newspaper indicated that water storage levels in major dams and reservoirs have fallen to their lowest point over a decade. Experts attributed the critical situation to reduced seasonal rainfall and the acute impact of dams constructed in upstream countries, which resulted in a decline in the inflows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Iraq and Türkiye on Sunday signed an executive mechanism for implementing a water cooperation agreement, a move hailed by al-Sudani as “one of the sustainable solutions to the water crisis in Iraq.”
