President Barzani gives Agriculture Minister Abdul-Aziz Tayyib his full support. Providing Kurdistan Region's population with all of its agricultural needs and improving food safety--all within the next five years--are main goals of the ministry.

Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Minister of Agriculture, Abdul-Aziz Tayyib, announced his ministry's strategic plan for the coming five years. The plan was announced in an agricultural congress held in Erbil's Martyr Saad Abdulla Convention Center on Tuesday, January 27.

Under the title "Toward Achieving Self-Sufficiency in Agricultural Products," the three-day congress was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture to announce its strategic plan and to get feedback from officials from other government institutions, experts, and companies. It was also aimed at persuading foreign investors and businessmen to invest their capital in the agriculture sector of Kurdistan and have a share in bringing this plan to achievement.

Minister Tayyib described the plan as an effort to develop agriculture production in Kurdistan in such a way that can supply all the agriculture and food needs of the region by the end of the period of the plan.

In the congress, which was attended by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Iraqi Minister of Agriculture Ali Abdul-Hadi, hundreds of experts in the field of agriculture and economics, university professors, representatives from KRG ministries, as well as representatives from a large number of foreign companies, Minister Tayyib said that they are all gathered here to hear the announcement of the strategic plan of his ministry until year 2013, which they are trying hard to implement with the support of the KRG.

The plan aims at improving food safety in the region within the next five years and boosting agricultural production to a level that can provide all the agricultural needs of Kurdistan Region's populations.

During the past two years, Ministry of Agriculture has initiated several steps toward improving the agriculture sector in the region and helping farmers in farming their lands and in being productive. Among those initiatives was the establishment of greenhouses and advanced irrigation systems, central pivots, and distributing fertilizers and pesticides. Besides, US$12 million has been allocated by the KRG for the development projects in agriculture in the 2009 budget.

PM Barzani said in a speech during the first day of the congress that his government will fully support the plan and is looking forward to achieving its goals.

"We see the process of implementing this plan in several steps and we will be working on them, including solving the problems associated with the agricultural lands and using modern technologies in the projects, encouraging people to work on their lands, and providing necessary services for them by the government," said PM Barzani regarding the plan. "We will also be working on organizing and improving the market and supporting farmers in marketing their products and communicating with international organizations regarding this issue."

Anwar Omer, Director General of Planning and Follow-Up in the Ministry of Agriculture, gave a speech about the plan, in which he said that in the plan the population of the region, including Garmian areas, is estimated to be 4,400,000. Wheat production capacity of the region is currently 300,000 tons, but by 2013 the level should become 50,000, which is enough for the whole region's population.

According to Omer, among the main challenges facing the timely implementation of the plan's success is the possibility of not allocating the required and needed budget for the plan in time, as well as water stoppage from neighboring countries such as building dams.

The overall budget for the plan is estimated to be US$10.4 bil.

The agriculture sector, which is the main source of income for Kurdistan, has been facing huge challenges during the past few years due to several factors, including mass immigration of farmers and villagers to the city centers and abandoning their farms, lack of new technology and equipment needed for farming, lack of rain, drought--especially since last year, and lack of a strategic and well-developed plan by the government.

Huge dependence on shares in Iraq's oil revenues by the KRG and dependence of the population on public-sector wages and social benefits have been lessening the importance of agriculture, and in production in general, for the region's economy in the eyes of both farmers and government. However, as the life standards increase and as threats to the oil economy arise, the need for agriculture as the main driver of national product is rising again and needs careful planning and intensive work.