Improved livelihoods of small farmers in Iraq through integrated pest management and organic fertilization

1. Improved livelihoods of small farmers in
Iraq through integrated pest
management and organic fertilization.
(IPM/OF) IFAD Grant 1001-1Q
Duration: Five years: 2009 - 2013
Dr. Nasri Haddad, Dr. Hamed Hadwan
Annual Consultation Meeting IFAD / ICARDA
21-22 October, 2014 Amman, Jordan

2. GOAL: Improvement of livelihoods and empowerment of
small farmers through the promotion of sustainable
agricultural production systems in Iraq
PURPOSE: Increased productivity of date palm and
cereal-food legume based production systems through
adoption by farmers of improved technology packages
based on integrated pest management (IPM) and organic
fertilization.
Budget : 1,185,500 US$

3. Project outputs:
Sustain the date palm-based irrigated production
systems in Middle and South of Iraq;
Sustain the wheat-food legume based rainfed production
system in northern Iraq;
Enabling policies and institutional options developed for
effective adoption of improved technology packages;
Capacities of small farmers, research and extension staff
and institutions enhanced

4. Project sites

5. Project Partners
IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development
ICARDA: BIGM, SEPR, IWLMP, CODIS, CDU
Partners in Iraq:
National Center for Organic Agriculture,
Ministry of Agriculture, agricultural directorates at the target
governorates,
State Board for Agricultural Research,
State Board for Extension
Faculties of Agriculture at the Universities of
Baghdad, Musel, Sulyamania and Al Anbar.
Ministry of Science and Technology
Farmers and their associations
International Partners
Regional IPM Program in the Near East-Project
GTFS/REM/070/ITA implemented by FAO.
International wheat rust network

6. Preparation for project implementation
Project inception workshop
and Steering Committee was
held at ICARDA 25-27
January 2009.
National inception workshop
was organized at the Ministry of
Agriculture in Baghdad
Three local inception
workshops were also
organized, one at each
of the three project sites

7. Iraqi and ICARDA
Scientists working
jointly during the
technical meetings;
review results and
plan for future
activities

8. Meeting and visit to
the field in Erbil in
the presence of
IFAD representative
Rust training course

10. Production Systems Constraints
Pests Infestation and their threats
Date palm based
production system
(Middle and South of
Iraq)
Yield and quality reduced.
Due to insect infestation:
date moth, Dubas, stem
borers, and Ghobar mite.

11. Review of available information on
Date Palm pests and IPM options

12. Solar insect light traps ( Magna Trap, Russell IPM ) used to Control
and determine the population density of Oryctes elegans in Date
palm orchards

13. No of adults caught/trap
Main Achievements :
IPM of Stem borer
Stem borer and the
damage it produce

14. lesser date moth and
the damage it
produce
% of infestation
IPM of lesser date moth
Infestation rate (%) of date palm fruits with lesser date moth when the
following treatments were evaluated: biological agents Bacillus
thuregiensis (Bt) applied either dust or spray, and Spinosad
(Saccharopolysporaspinosa) and chemical insecticide Deltamethrin as
compared to no treatment

15. Results Highlights
IPM of Dubas bug in Iraq
Based in IPM/OF project results in Iraq
The Ministry of Agriculture has adopted control
campaign called (Clean Control Campaign) against
Dubas bug by using Neem as a botanical insecticide

16. 7
Estimated increase in farmers' income if farmers in Iraq /at study area shift from chemical control
to botinical control of dubas bug insect on date palm under different market price
5 5
4
3
19
15
14
13
10
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
600 500 450 400 300
Million US$
Market price IQD per tone
Botinical ver Chemical at Study
Area
Botinical ver Chemical at
National Level
Economic Assessment

17. The application of 30 kg
compost/tree to date palm
resulted in nearly 30%
increase in yield as compared
with the unfertilized trees.
Organic Fertilization

18. Wheat-Food legumes based system
(In northern Iraq)
Sunn Pest causing
serious wheat yield and
quality losses
Wheat rust diseases
cause serious yield
reduction.
Sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps,

19. Chickpea
aschochyta
blight is
devastating
disease
Resulted
in
complete
crop
failure

20. Chickpeas Ascochyta blight and Wilt resistance
Chickpea genotypes were evaluated for Ascochyta blight
and Wilt resistance at a large scale on farmers’ fields. Two
resistant/tolerant genotypes (FLIP-05-113c and FLIP-06-
156c) in seed multiplication and release

21. Wheat Rust
Several wheat rust resistance
lines were identified by the
project, are available for the
national breeding program to be
utilized for the production of high
yielding wheat varieties that are
high rust resistant.

22. Nine farmers’
field schools
were
established in
Iraq and 150
farmers
benefiting from
these schools.
IPM/OF Iraq. IFAD Grant 1001-1Q
Farmers' Field schools

23. Policy recommendations
(for the use of biopesticide on dubas bug insect)
Gradual increase in biopesticides to substitute chemical pesticides. The
current agricultural policy provides substantial subsidies for chemical pesticides.
Reducing the subsidy will encourage farmers to look for cheaper alternatives, such
as IPM.
• Create a new price policy that gives higher prices for organic agricultural
products. The current agricultural price policy does not differentiate between
organic and non-organic products. It is necessary to create a new price policy that
gives premium higher prices for organic agricultural products to encourage their
production.
• Develop an agricultural extension system which has good knowledge of IPM
approaches, in order to be effective in changing farmers’ attitudes and practices..
Farmers’ field schools that were established by the project need to be extended to
reach new
farmers and new areas.
• Raising the awareness of farmers and decision makers in the MoA and other
related ministries and institutions regarding the concepts and advantages of IPM
• Establishment of a ‘National Center for Agricultural Policy’ is needed.
address the policy and institutional issues at the national and provincial levels.

24. Project Publications

25. Capacity Development

26. ICARDA Staff of the Year 2011
Outstanding Research Team
Name of the Team: IPM/OF project team (IFAD
funded project in Iraq)
“Improved livelihoods of small farmers in Iraq
through integrated pest management and
organic fertilization”
Staff Names:
ICARDA: Dr. Nasri Haddad, Dr. Mustapha El-
Bouhssini, Dr. Seid Kemal, Dr. Kumarse Nizari, Dr.
Rolf Sommer,
Iraq: Dr. Hamid Hadwan, Dr. Nizar N. Alanbaky, Dr
Abdul Sattar Arif Ali, Dr Emad Ghalib Al Maarouf, Dr
Ali Karim Altaae, Dr. Ali Fahad, Eng. Hasanein Y.
Abdul Raheem and Dr. Mohammed Zaidan Khalaf
The Project Awarded
ICARDA Award for
Outstanding
Research Team for
2011
 Quality and
quantity of
scientific outputs
 Innovation
 Demonstrated
synergy in team
work

27. Thank You