Growing amber rice in Iraq has been a tradition due to its aromatic basis of rich lamb and other dishes, and being an essential element in an excruciating economy; however, it is presently threatened by drought.

Amber rice is mainly used in Iraqi meals such as mansaf, the lavish lamb qouzi, and stuffed vegetables.

Nonetheless, three years of drought and a declining rainfall have forced consumers to look for imported varieties, which left farmers pondering their future.

"We live off this land," said Abu Rassul, living in a village in Najaf, adding, "Since I was a child I have planted amber rice."

"Water enables us to plant every year," he noted, but this year, the situation is different.

According to Shaker Fayez Kadhim, Najaf's water resources manager, the country's available water reserves "are well below our critical level of 18 billion cubic metres (4.8 trillion gallons)," he told AFP.

The Agriculture Ministry stated that in early May, officials restricted total rice crop areas to 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres), in Najaf and Diwaniyah only.

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A top official in the ministry's planning department said that Iraq's annual production of rice had been 300,000 tonnes (tons).

Seeing the current situation, one would be surprised to believe that Iraq is famous for being the "country of the two rivers," the Tigris and the Euphrates, which are two legendary water sources. In these two rivers, the supply of water has been declining for years, causing Iraq to be classified as one of the five most vulnerable areas to climate change effects and desertification.

Looking at the consequences, we can't but notice they are dire: depleted rivers, declining crop yields, and more intense sandstorms.

The worst is yet to come

Kadhim informs that the Euphrates has declined to about one-third of its normal level. He believes "political action" must take place to get more water flowing.

"There is a risk of seeing rice cultivation disappear for lack of water," Ahmed Hassoun, the president of the Najaf farmers' association said, blaming authorities.

"We know Iraq will have a shortage of rain in the coming years," he added, complaining that despite that, nothing has been done to "modernise the irrigation system."

Hassoun said that the country has become "a market for all its neighbours", and last year, its own agricultural sector contracted by 17.5 % "following severe droughts, energy outages, and the rising global price of inputs", as per the World Bank.

The World Food Programme reports that agriculture is the second-largest contributor to Iraq's GDP and employs about 20% of the workforce.