'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎296r] (594/862)

IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY 457
law of 1932 its cultivation was restricted to certain acreages in areas
dependent on canal irrigation, though not where water was taken
direct from rivers. Other limiting factors have been the extension of
cotton cultivation and measures taken for the control of malaria.
But production has always remained high, and doubled between 1936
(180,000 tons) and 1938 (360,000 tons). Yields depend largely upon
the amount of water available and may reach half a ton to the acre
or twice the yield of barley. The bulk of the crop is eaten in Iraq,
where there is a great demand for it, though there was a small
exportable surplus before 1940. The principal varieties are known
as Anbar, Naqqaza, Huwaizaqi, and Khadrawi, the first two being
the finest. Acreage rose from 360,000 in 1936 to 540,000 in 1938.
Later information is not available.
Dates
Over four-fifths of the world’s production of dates are estimated
to come from Iraq, and dates are the most reliable agricultural
export of Iraq. They come mainly from the palm-groves lining the
Shatt al Arab, which contain 15 or 16 million trees in Iraqi territory,
compared with 8 or 9 million trees in all French North Africa. Dates
are also grown northwards to Ana on the Euphrates and to Samarra
on the Tigris, beyond which points the winters are too cold for effec
tive cultivation. The date-palm matures its fruit only where there are
long, hot, rain-free summers, rain preventing the fertilization of the
flowers and the ripening of the fruit. Yet the palms need a liberal
supply of water at the roots in order to bear heavy crops. Quality of
soil and water is less important. The date is more tolerant of a
degree of salinity than any other cultivated crop in Iraq and grows
in a variety of soils, limy loam, river silts, and desert sands, but
dislikes both a permanently water-logged and an over-dry soil,
though it will endure even these for many years.
Varieties of dates are numerous, totalling over a hundred, but the
commercial sorts for export are restricted to four: Halawi, Khadrawi,
Zahidi, and Sayir or Istaamran. These differ in quality and yield.
Halawi are the choicest, grow quickly in a variety of soils, are fairly
resistant to disease, and yield 44 lb. a tree. Khadrawi are more liable
to disease, need more careful cultivation and more regular irrigation,
produce 30 lb. a tree, and are of a good quality. Zahidi, the com
monest kind in the Baghdad area, grows rapidly, is very resistant of
disease, and yields heavily, up to 126 lb. a tree, so that though prices
are cheap the profit is adequate (photo. 176). They have a high sugar