World Grain - February 2012 - 25

COUNTRYFOCUS

The withdrawal of U.S. troops has changed the situation dramatically. “In 2009, there were about 140,000 U.S. troops in the country,” IRIN said. “Today, there are only 200. They are there to train Iraqi security forces and protect U.S. diplomats.” Iraq is located in the dry zone of western Asia and depends mostly on irrigated agriculture, except for the northern part of the country with rain-fed crops. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that: “Iraq is suffering a severe shortage of water due to climate change, dryer winters and reduced ﬂow in the Tigris and Eu-

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According to the USDA, there are some 200 private sector flour mills in operation in Iraq. Average production capacity per plant is 150 to 200 tonnes a day.

phrates rivers due to the construction of dams in neighboring countries, which will lead to 33-million-cubic-meter water shortage by 2015, according to statistics from the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources.” PLAN TO INCREASE WHEAT CROP Even so, Iraq is ambitious to increase production. According to a report published Jan. 17 by the Bloomberg news agency, citing Saleh Hussein Jabur, director general of state-owned Mesopotamia Seed Company, the country will increase local wheat production by about 74% to 3 million tonnes by 2015. He told the agency that the government plans to triple the annual quantity of wheat seed that it buys from local farmers to 180,000 tonnes in 2015 from the current 60,000 tonnes. Bloomberg also quoted the director general of Iraq’s grain board, Hassan Ismail Ibrahim, as putting 2010-11 production at around 1.73 million tonnes and consumption at about 4.5 million tonnes. Planned wheat imports for 2012 are 3 million tonnes. The agency also quoted Musadaq Delﬁ Ali, director general of Livestock Service Co., as saying that Iraq plans to increase local yellow fodder corn production to satisfy its consumption by 2014 and 2015. It put consumption at about 450,000 tonnes a year, with the harvest at 200,000 tonnes in 2011, up from 90,000 in 2010. According to the USDA, there are some 200 private sector ﬂour mills in operation in Iraq. Average production capacity per plant is 150 to 200 tonnes a day. There are two public sector ﬂour mills, Al Dora & Taji, both of which have a milling capacity of 1,000 tonnes a day. PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM The Iraqi government provides a monthly allotment of
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World Grain - February 2012

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