Iraqi wheat farmers have turned to drilling wells in the desert to help sustain the country's agriculture, using equipment to water crops through sprinklers.
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00:00in Iraq's dry deserts farmers are turning to ground water to grow wheat like Hadi
00:13sahib who switched from rainwater to pivot sprinklers in 2013 he says without ground
00:21water and drilling wells continuing would be impossible
00:25this modern method uses far less water
00:55than traditional flooding but it's not without risk
01:01monim Shahid from Nadja's agricultural direct rate warns that while farmers see
01:06big returns we must conserve and regulate groundwater to prevent depletion
01:11taba nila al-fala ha no one issue for no more dude to sadi cabirum was a hot to
01:17zara bi-shakel cabiru kimmy at in touch alia kid raha t-con at the rabbi
01:21bi-an yizrach a cb-m saha yuhfur a cb-a-cb-a-cb-a-d in the abar illa anu yaini
01:28We need to focus on the water and the water and the water.
01:42The area is more than the area is to the area.
01:47The area is not to be able to get 700 kg to 1,220 kg
01:56But the coastal region is the way to the way to the river
02:00and also to improve the areas that are needed in the coastal region
02:06which are small areas.
02:08Still, yields in the desert are now higher than those from river irrigated lands.
02:13Farmer Fahad Abdullah shares his concern.
02:17Frost and no rainfall damaged most of the harvest this year.
02:21We haven't come here yet and there was a natural disaster.
02:25I can see this. There are many places.
02:27What is the forest?
02:29And they hit it.
02:31So now the situation is more dangerous.
02:33I mean, if you want to get out of it, you can get out of it.
02:38Despite challenges, hope remains.
02:41In Karbala, the Imam Hussain Shrine is leading efforts to reclaim desert land.
02:47Head of the Shrine's Agriculture Department says,
02:50we aim to expand farming using modern irrigation.
02:53Reaching 15,000 dhanams is our goal.
02:56One of the goals of the Amantia
02:57The Amantia
03:18We have achieved what we wanted and what we needed to increase the growth like this.
03:29Iraq's farmers are reviving deserts, but the future of farming depends on protecting the
03:34water beneath their feet.
03:48For more information visit www.fema.gov