Rust disease
Rain, cold weather severely damage Raperin wheat production
RAPERIN, Sulaymaniyah — Unfavorable weather conditions this year, including prolonged rain and cold, have devastated wheat crops in the Bitwen region of Raperin, Sulaymaniyah, with farmers in areas such as Qaraniyagha, Hizop, and Kanimaran facing the potential of a complete loss of their wheat yield.
Known for its fertile land, the Raperin region annually plants over 190,000 dunams (about 46,950 acres) with wheat, yielding more than 100,000 tons.
Omar Hama Swar, a local farmer, experienced total crop failure on his 40-dunam (approximately 9.88 acres) wheat farm due to rust disease, a fungal infection exacerbated by the rain and cold. Left with no choice, he replanted with sunflowers, as treatments proved ineffective against the disease. “I had sown 40 dunams of wheat, but the entire crop was destroyed by rust disease due to rain and cold. So I was forced to plow my land and plant sunflowers instead,” Hama Swar said.
Abbas Bayiz, another farmer from the Hizop area, shared a similar plight on his 400-dunam (about 98.8 acres) wheat farm. “Before the cold snap and frost, our wheat was growing well, but the subsequent cold wave led to the crop’s disease and drying out,” Bayiz reported.
Despite efforts by some to salvage their wheat through chemical treatments and growth agents, yields are expected to fall by 80% compared to previous years.
Ghazi Fatah, the head of plant protection at the Raperin Agriculture Department, noted that wheat rust is a prevalent issue that particularly affects crops in years with abundant rainfall and suitable temperatures for the disease to thrive. The spread of the disease is often contributed to by early-sprouting and densely planted crops, which are more vulnerable to infection.
The department has observed that crops sown before the onset of heavy rains, lacking cold resistance, were especially susceptible this winter, with the recent continuous heavy rainfall further increasing the risk of disease spread.
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