Strengthening Cooperation Between ACSAD, Iraqi Agriculture Ministry Discussed

Baghdad, (ST) – The Iraqi Minister of Agriculture, Falah Hassan Zaidan Al-Lahibi, discussed here with the Director General of the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), Dr. Rafiq Ali Saleh, the mechanisms of cooperation between the two sides.

The Iraqi minister pointed to the important role played by ACSAD in the field of agricultural development in the Arab region, where the Centre gained high confidence and scientific prestige that reached him in all areas of his work.

He expressed his satisfaction with the growing relations between the two sides, especially the project of development of the Iraqi Hammad Basin, implemented by the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, which amounted to 600 thousand hectares, where a comprehensive development plan was developed for the entire area of Hammad in Iraq, stressing the ministry’s keenness to benefit from the expertise of the Center in development projects in the next phase.

For his part, Dr. Saleh said in a statement to local press that the readiness of ACSAD to provide all that would contribute to the achievement of sustainable agricultural renaissance in Iraq and other Arab countries, considering that the development of the Iraqi basin of Hammad is of paramount importance for sustainable development in the Republic of Iraq.

Dr. Saleh pointed to the keenness of ACSAD to enhance scientific and technical cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture to optimize the use of modern technologies and implement the sound management of natural resources and develop the efficiency of Iraqi technical personnel to serve sustainable agricultural development in the Republic of Iraq.

He said that the two sides agreed to implement a scientific study project for the southern desert of Iraq with an area of 5 million hectares.The study will cover the vegetation of the Southern Badia and the means of its development and establishment of water dams in the region and the reality of livestock, ways to increase productivity and the economic situation of farmers and the appropriate scientific methods to improve their income and development of living.

Dr. Saleh pointed out that the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture asked ACSAD to carry out a joint research in the field of wheat and barley cultivation and to supply Iraq with 50,000 50 thousand cuttings of olive varieties to train the ministry’s technicians in the fields of grain cultivation, water resources management, water harvesting, rangeland development, artificial insemination and embryo farming for sheep and goats And other areas of common interest.

Sh. Kh.