Agriculture

Iraq Wheat Production Up 21%, Official Says, Amid Ample Rainfall

A harvester in a wheat field in the Karbala Agricultural City mega project of Iraq on May 14.

Photographer: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Iraq’s wheat output hit 6.3 million tons this year, an almost 21% annual increase that marked a second year of self-sufficiency in the grain, an official said.

Haider Nouri Al-Garaawi, director general of Iraq’s grain board, said in a phone interview that “extraordinary” rains as well as modern irrigation technologies helped increase this year’s harvest.