Exploring Iraq’s Sustainable Date Palm Farms- From Basra to Baghdad
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Shamini
- . April 17, 2025
- . Update: April 17, 2025 4:49 pm
Iraq’s date palm farms from Basra to Baghdad are central to the country’s agricultural heritage and economy. The farms are adopting sustainable practices in order to revitalize the dates industry and enhance eco-tourism.
Basra Date Palm Farms
Basra, which has more than 13 million date palms, is experiencing a revival in the cultivation of dates. The Ministry of Agriculture has launched projects to cultivate high-quality saplings by tissue culture and restore the date palm population in the region.
Maysan Date Palm Farms
In Maysan, farmers have begun pollinating palm trees for the 2025 date season. Using superior male palms such as the Ghanami variety, they seek to increase yields and preserve traditional farming methods.
Karbala Date Palm Farms
Fedek’s Karbala project, undertaken in 2015 with a loan of $6.8 million, involves reforestation in the area. The initiative resulted in 40% growth of green lands since 2006 adding date palms to reforested lands.
Al-Amarah Date Palm Farms
Al-Amarah in Maysan Province has numerous date palm farms that depend on traditional irrigation systems like the qanat (subterranean water conduits). The farms are now incorporating more eco-tourism activities where visitors can visit the farms and see the traditional methods of farming.
Al-Diwaniyah Date Palm Farms
In Al-Diwaniyah, the district of Al-Shanafiyah is witnessing a large-scale agricultural investment project. Covering 26,000 dunums, the project includes cultivating date palm trees and producing more than 10,000 jobs, upgrading local agriculture.
Baghdad Date Palm Farms
In Baghdad, Nakhla company provides palm-care services to the owners of the trees, showcasing a model promoting the revival of Iraq’s date industry.
Iraq’s date palm farms from Basra to Baghdad are adopting sustainable practices to safeguard their agricultural traditions. Through initiatives such as tissue culture propagation, eco-tourism and reforestation projects, the date farms are reviving the date industry and nation’s economy.
