Climate-smart farming project in Rawa pushes vegetable production up

ANBAR — An agricultural exhibition held at the Rawa Agriculture Division hall showcased produce grown under a climate-smart farming project supported by Action For Humanity, which provided plastic tunnels, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to 45 beneficiaries across roughly 23 dunams.

The project has contributed to lower vegetable prices in the area. Cucumber prices fell from 1,250 dinars to 750 dinars, and the project has achieved self-sufficiency in cucumbers and eggplant, with organizers hoping to reach full self-sufficiency in other crops by mid-next month.

Abdulrahman Mahmoud, livelihoods project manager and one of the exhibition organizers, told 964media that daily vegetable needs for Rawa’s roughly 2,000 families amount to around four tons. “After using plastic tunnels, our production reached 3.5 tons, which is about 80 percent of the city’s daily consumption,” he said, adding that last year production did not exceed 500 kilograms per day. Each farmer’s productivity this season is expected to reach 1.5 tons of cucumbers, eggplant, okra, melons, watermelons, zucchini and tomatoes.

Farmer Rajab Fayyad told 964media he received 15 plastic tunnels along with cucumber and eggplant seeds and added okra, peppers, melons and watermelons to his plot, calling on others to “expand this type of farming to meet local market needs.”

Farmers have flagged challenges with the plastic coverings, saying thicker yellow nylon is needed to reduce sunlight exposure and wider black ground covers to prevent weed growth that can affect summer crop yields.