70-year-old Mosul farmer continues onion harvest with family by his side

MOSUL — At 70 years old, farmer Elias Kazem continues to harvest his onion field in the Alguba area north of Mosul, relying on more than five decades of experience. Working alongside him are his 75-year-old wife, his son, and daughter-in-law, in a family routine that begins before dawn and ends by midday.

Kazem told 964media that farming has been part of his family’s life for generations. “I am seventy years old, and I grow onions and potatoes. Right now I am busy with onions, and I work with my wife, my son, and my son’s wife. We have been used to this work for a long time, and we cannot leave it,” he said.

He added that his wife has been at his side in the fields since the day they married 50 years ago. “She is 75 years old, and she has accompanied me in the work since our wedding day. We work together in the orchard day and night,” he said.

Their workday starts before sunrise. “We currently begin at four in the morning. We eat breakfast and then go to the orchard, and we continue until ten o’clock in the morning,” Kazem said.

He emphasized that farming is a family tradition carried through the generations. “We have been farmers since the days of our grandparents. Even my son’s wife and my children are used to the orchard, and they go out to work in it on their own,” he said.

Kazem credited his wife for sustaining their livelihood. “If not for my wife, I would have had neither land nor work. Farming runs in our blood. For 50 years we have lived by our labor, and thank God this crop is our life, and our land is our age,” he said.