Small-scale farmland lease sustains couple’s livelihood in Maysan

MAYSAN — Far from the bustle of urban life, Salah Hassan and his wife, Rabab, have found a steady means of support by leasing farmland each season to grow alfalfa, a critical livestock feed.

“This land isn’t ours. We lease it until the end of the season, and this is our livelihood,” said Hassan, a farmer, speaking with 964media.

Working together, the couple harvests around 40 bundles of alfalfa every day. Each bundle sells for 500 dinars (about 34 cents) at the local cattle market. Rabab says she is proud to share in the labor.

“I help my husband with the harvest, and I’m proud of it,” she said. “In the morning, I manage household chores, and in the afternoon, I join him in the fields. We also have livestock that we feed from these crops. Leasing this land is part of our daily sustenance, along with social welfare support.”

Leasing two dunams for an entire season costs 150,000 dinars (about $101). The couple relies on the alfalfa both as a source of income and a way to feed their animals.

Hashem Al-Abadi, director of agriculture in Qal’at Saleh, said the district has 50 dunams of alfalfa under cultivation, yielding about 192 tons of fodder. Across Maysan Governorate, 208 dunams are planted, producing roughly 799 tons.

According to the latest 2024 census, Iraq’s population stands at 46,118,000. The Iraq Ministry of Planning reports that 70.17% live in urban areas, while 29.83% reside in rural communities. In the Kurdistan Region, urbanization is even higher, at 84.57%, compared to 15.43% in rural areas.