Close-up view of Qandahar wheat growing on Sheikh Jamal Krbchna’s experimental plot in Krbchna village, Chamchamal.
'The goal is to revive it'
Model farmer revives rare Kurdish wheat variety in Sulaymaniyah
SULAYMANIYAH — Sheikh Jamal Krbchna, one of the Kurdistan Region’s most celebrated farmers, is working to revive Qandahar wheat, a rare local variety once prized for its flavor, resilience, and breadmaking quality.
“I want to bring back this original Kurdish wheat — some call it Qandahar or Sabir Beg — and restore it to local farms,” Krbchna told 964media.
On June 12, 2024, he began harvesting Qandahar wheat from a dedicated research plot on his farm in Krbchna village, located in the Sangaw sub-district of Chamchamal, Sulaymaniyah governorate. “I’ve planted more than 200 individual wheat heads,” he said. “Each one was cultivated separately to ensure no crossbreeding occurred.”
Qandahar wheat is known for its ability to withstand drought, high temperatures, and late harvests. “It’s better than any wheat for breadmaking — it’s rich in taste and texture,” he said. However, in years with excessive rainfall, the stalks can become brittle and prone to breakage.
On April 15, 2025, Sulaymaniyah’s meteorology and seismology office reported varying levels of drought across the region, with conditions classified as severe in Ranya, moderate in Sulaymaniyah, Penjwen, and Chamchamal, and mild in Halabja and Kalar.
“This is a purely local Kurdish variety, but it’s rarely found in farmers’ fields today,” Krbchna said. “It needs to be separated from other types and grown exclusively.”
Looking ahead, he plans to expand cultivation of Qandahar wheat over the next two years while protecting the strain from genetic mixing. “The goal is to revive it and keep it true to its roots,” he said.
Krbchna was recognized in May 2024 by the Global Network of Lighthouse Farms — an initiative supported by Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands — as one of the Kurdistan Region’s top model farmers. He is conducting the experiment on his 40-hectare farm in Krbchna, with 10 hectares dedicated to breeding and experimentation and the remainder used for growing crops and vegetables.
