'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎299r] (600/862)

IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY 461
introduced better varieties of Balkan and Turkish tobaccos, and raised
new cross-bred strains, distributing seeds and seedlings from its
nurseries. The new methods were quickly adopted by cultivators
and the crop of improved tobacco increased rapidly from 20 tons in
1930 to 2,400 tons in 1934. The increase in value of the improved
crop, which is almost entirely taken up by the cigarette factories of
the country, has been immense. The rate of yield, about 6 cwt. an
acre, compares favourably with that obtained in Syria and Turkey.
From 1937 to 1939 plantation averaged 10,000 acres with a pro
duction of 3,000-4,000 tons, apparently including both improved
and unimproved sorts.
Minor Crops
Farm crops of secondary importance include millets, beans, and
lentils as food or fodder crops, and flax, sesame, and silk as indus
trial crops. Information about these is scarce and the only statistics
are limited to 1937-1938:—
Production in
Crop
Acres
metric tons
Millets
242,000
199,000
Beans
58,000
38,000
Lentils
12,000
5,000
Sesame
48,000
20,000
Flax for linseed .
30,000
8,000
Beatis (broad, haricot, and kidney) are winter crops, and their cul
tivation is fairly widespread; there is no surplus for export. Millet
is a summer crop, harvested from July to October, grown in northern
and central Iraq on riverain lands by lift or flow irrigation. The giant
millets or durra (sorghum) grow 10-12 feet high; the red and green
yield best on irrigated land, but are very resistant to climatic changes
when not irrigated; lower Tigris and Shatt al Arab are the principal
areas. There is normally an export surplus of about 20,000 tons and
much is consumed within Iraq, as fodder, chicken food, and flour.
Maize or Indian Corn is sown late in summer and harvested in
September; sugar-cane, cultivated since remote times, is eaten as a
vegetable, and seldom matures for sugar production. Lentils are a
summer or a winter crop; they flourish on damp, sandy soils but
require no great quantity of water. The lubiya or kidney peas, both
red and white, are sown on irrigated land in June, eaten green in July,
and harvested dry in October. Onions may be reckoned a farm crop,
with an estimated production of 4,000 tons from 17,000 acres in 1938.
Of the minor industrial crops, flax has been grown increasingly
by enterprising cultivators as a winter crop in the place of wheat and