Basra tomato output to rise 9% as planted area grows 17%

BASRA — Tomato production in Zubair district is expected to reach about 650,000 tonnes this year, up from 596,000, after the area planted rose from 12,000 to 14,000 dunams, Basra Agriculture Director Hadi Hussein told 964media.

The gain in output is smaller than the gain in land. Area is up about 17% and production about 9%, meaning yield per dunam has fallen from roughly 50 tonnes to 46. Hussein cautioned that more land does not translate into proportionally more output, because yields depend on seed quality, farming practice, fertilisation, pest control, water management and technique.

The district’s winter cultivation plan covered 16,000 dunams in 2025-26, up from 15,500 the season before, with 17,100 proposed for 2026-27. Hussein put the expansion down to farmers taking up available land and bringing unused ground back into production, and said areas could grow further if water, inputs and support services allow. Any expansion, he said, “should be accompanied by higher productivity per dunam, improved water-use efficiency and the adoption of modern agricultural techniques.”