'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎295v] (593/862)

456 IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY
Euphrates provinces of Dulaim and Hilla, but these regions normally
produce together only one-fifth of Iraqi production. 1
There are several native varieties of local origin, known as Mosul,
medium Mosul, Baghdad, Qantara, and Nasiriya. Their grain is
reddish and hard, yields are poor, they are very liable to rust, and
their late maturity renders them liable to destruction by locusts and
the sunna insect (p. 464). After several experiments the Department
of Agriculture has produced a variety of Punjabi wheat called Ajiba
which has early maturity, marked resistance to rust, and heavy yield.
Its grain is superior to that of the native wheats, which have a very
low value on world markets, where ‘Persian Gulf grain’ has a
bad name.
Wheat is best sown in northern Iraq from 15 October to the end of
November. Later sowings give poor yields. The earliest crops ripen
about 3 May in northern Iraq and harvests continue into June, the
native varieties coming in about ten days later than the new strains.
In the south the harvest is in April and May when the floods have
subsided.
There was a steady expansion in acreage up to about 2,000,000
acres in 1937 with a total production of 600,000 tons in 1938, since
when production has receded to an average of 400,000 tons. The
average yield is about 2^ cwt. an acre.
Rice
The three great rice-growing areas are the marshlands of the lower
Euphrates between Suq ash Shuyukh and Kabaish, the marshlands
of the lower Tigris round Amara, and the lands watered by the Hilla
and Hindiya channels between Hilla and Rumaitha and particularly
in the Shamiya district; the rice-fields of the lower Diyala are less
extensive. Rice is grown on a yet smaller scale in northern Iraq by
means of local irrigation channels from rivers, chiefly in Sulaimaniya
province, in the Qara Tepe district of Kirkuk province, and in some
valleys of northern Kurdistan.
Rice is the third of the grain crops of southern Iraq and exceeds
them in value to the cultivators where it can be grown, because yield
and price are generally higher than for barley and wheat. It is a
summer crop sown in February and April, usually near marshes and
the banks of rivers or canals, and harvested from July to September.
It needs heavy irrigation and is extravagant of water. Hence by a
1 There has been a notable rise of cereal production in Kut and Muntafiq pro
vinces since 1934 as a result of extended pump and canal irrigation.