Cotton farming returns to Duhok after nearly 50 years with pilot project

DUHOK — Cotton farming has returned to Duhok governorate for the first time in nearly five decades, with local farmers planting the crop again in a move that agricultural officials say could pave the way for a cotton processing facility in the region.

In Semel district, a farmer in the village of Sabaya has cultivated two dunams of land with cotton, reviving a crop that once thrived locally but had not been grown on a large scale since the 1980s.

Ahmed Jameel, director general of agriculture in Duhok, told 964media that the planting was carried out in coordination with a Turkish company as part of a pilot project. “In the first phase, the harvest will be exported by the company to Turkey for use in the textile industry,” he said. “But in the future, the Turkish company plans to open a cotton processing and spinning facility in Duhok.”

He noted that Duhok’s climate in the 1980s was well-suited for cotton farming, and the crop was widely cultivated at the time. Harvested cotton was then sent to a textile plant in Mosul. However, cultivation gradually ceased as farmers shifted to other crops.

Officials hope that with international cooperation and renewed interest, cotton can once again become a viable and profitable part of Duhok’s agricultural economy.