Iraq – Agriculture Reconstruction and Development Program

Under a subcontract to Development Alternatives, Inc., Riverside Technology, inc. (RTi) provided technical assistance to USAID’s Agriculture Reconstruction and Development Program for Iraq (ARDI), a project directed at increasing agricultural productivity; rehabilitating the resource base; and restoring the capacity of small and medium agro-enterprises to produce, process, and market agricultural goods and services.

RTi irrigation expert providing training in Suleymaniya, Iraq

Water, Soil and Crop Relationships Component – Aimed at improving water management conditions in Iraq, the program assisted the Ministries of Water Resources and Agriculture in their efforts to improve the irrigation sector. Interventions were primarily focused on:

• Establishing demonstrative areas for improving irrigation efficiencies through the introduction of highly-efficient irrigation systems;
• Small-scale irrigation projects;
• Addressing the problems of drainage and soil salinity;
• Data acquisition, including enhancing the Agro-Meteorological data collection for irrigation scheduling and determining crop coefficients, and;
• Institutional Development.

Agroecological Zone Characterization – RTi assisted with an inter-ministerial effort among the Ministries of Agriculture, Water Resources, Transportation, and Planning with the design and implementation of a national program for agro-ecological zone (AEZ) characterization.

Advanced GIS Course, AEZ facility Erbil, Iraq

The program used AEZ concepts and technology to prepare a land suitability system for major crops in Iraq.

AEZ is a methodology for the characterization of climate, soil and terrain, and socio-economic conditions relevant to agricultural production. GIS modeling techniques are used to identify crop-specific limitations under assumed levels of inputs and management conditions in order to produce high quality crop suitability maps. These models will show land suitability for different crops and will enable the Ministry of Agriculture to better assist farmers in maximizing their yields and income from agricultural production.

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