Iran
Farmers pray for rain in Iran's Kurdistan province. A dry spring means their crop yields are down this year. Photo: IRNA
SANANDAJ, Iran — Kurdistan province in western Iran will produce at least 330,000 fewer tons of wheat this year compared to last year because of a lack of rain.
“Given the decrease in rainfall, it is forecasted that a drop of around 330,000 tons of wheat will be experienced this year in the province compared to the last year,” Mohammad Salih Ahmadi, a deputy at the Ministry of Agriculture, said on Monday. This is about a 35 percent decrease.
“If we have more rainfall in the coming days, it is possible that damage will be kept to this level. But with temperatures rising and lack of rain, it could increase,” he added.
Kurdistan province annually produces 2,400,000 tons of food products.
Rainfall this year is at a 50-year low in Iran. The first month of spring saw 83 percent less rain compared to last year. Since late September last year, when the rainy season starts in Kurdistan province, 287 mm of rain has fallen, 34 percent less than the previous year.
Farmers have held mass prayers in towns and villages across Kurdish areas calling for rain. The wet season is coming to an end and there is little rain in the forecast.
Kurdistan province has 1,220,000 hectares of agricultural land, just 12 percent of it irrigated, leaving most farmers at the mercy of the clouds.
“With the worsening drought, some of the crops are not even worth harvesting,” said Ahmadi from the Ministry.
The lack of adequate rain has caused another headache for farmers – the arrival of pests.
Reliance on traditional farming methods is another problem according to Hamed Qaderzadeh, who holds a doctorate in agricultural economics and teaches at the Kurdistan University in Sanandaj. “Because of severe dependence of the farmers on their agricultural land and because of the economic situation, the farmers have not invested enough in the development of the agricultural sector,” he said.
Most of the rain is not collected and therefore not used by the farmers, Qaderzadeh explained. Farmers must adapt new ways of farming, he added.
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