Shafaq News – Maysan

The agricultural sector in Maysan province, southeastern Iraq, is nearing collapse as prolonged drought and water scarcity leave thousands of farmers and buffalo herders without income, an Iraqi official warned.

Majid Al-Saadi, director of Maysan’s Agriculture Directorate, told Shafaq News that over 60% of the province’s population depends on farming and related professions. The summer planting plan has halted, while the winter plan remains unapproved, with drought affecting more than 90% of marshlands.

Eastern districts, including Ali Al-Gharbi Island, Al-Tayyib Island, and the Duwairij area, rely on seasonal floods from Iran and local rivers, not the Tigris. “Excluding these areas from the winter plan is unjustified,” Al-Saadi remarked, noting that modern irrigation methods such as pivot and fixed irrigation are widely used there.

While the drought has forced buffalo herders to sell livestock at low prices, with some families abandoning marshland areas entirely, Al-Saadi urged the Iraqi government to release water to save remaining agricultural and marshland zones.

Nationwide, Iraq faces an unprecedented environmental crisis, with nearly 60% of its territory either desertified or undergoing rapid degradation, according to the Green Iraq Observatory. Desertification has expanded from 30% of Iraq’s land a decade ago to over 42% today, threatening the country’s agricultural base, ecological balance, and rural livelihoods.

Annual precipitation has dropped to 5–15 centimeters, and summer temperatures frequently exceed 50°C, intensifying water stress and soil degradation. Poor land management, unregulated well drilling, saltwater intrusion in Basra, and conversion of farmland to urban use have exacerbated the crisis.

Over 70% of Iraq’s agricultural land is now unproductive, while forest cover has shrunk to just 2% of the country. Environmental experts warn that without coordinated national and regional water management—including agreements with Turkiye and Iran—agriculture and rural communities are at risk of total collapse.

Read more: Green turning grey: Inside Iraq's accelerating desertification