Agricultural improvements come to Bayji

Photo By Sgt. Shantelle Campbell | Local farmers and contractors gathered at the "600 Homes" Community Center here to wait for the hoop house and drip irrigation lottery to begin, Dec. 29. (Courtesy photo)  

BAYJI, IRAQ

12.29.2009

Courtesy Story

4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division

BAYJI, Iraq — One hundred drip irrigation systems and 50 hoop houses were distributed to olive orchard owners and farmers, Dec. 29, 2009, during a lottery held at "600 Homes," a gated community in northern Bayji.

In an effort to help farmers throughout the Bayji village, Qada'a, who have suffered from six years of drought, the U.S. government purchased the hoop houses and drip irrigation systems as an experiment to improve crop production.

The Qada'a Council, the Bayji Satellite Provincial Reconstruction Team, and Company B, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kan., agreed to use a lottery to distribute the systems to disadvantaged farmers throughout the Bayji Qada'a, particularly in the significantly affected area near Makhul, a town in the northern region of the Qada'a.

Hajji Hamed, the Qada'a Council president, gave a short speech at the beginning of the meeting to explain the agenda and rules. Hamed and other members of the Qada'a Council held six separate lotteries to determine the distribution of the systems.

One lottery selected the recipients of the 100 drip irrigation systems for both Bayji and Makhul, one lottery selected hoop houses for 30 Bayji farmers, and four lottery drawings were held to select the recipients of the 20 hoop houses specifically allocated for the four villages near Makhul.

Recipients of these systems claimed their vouchers at the Civil Military Operations Center on Al Siniyah Airbase.

• Date Taken: 12.29.2009
• Date Posted: 01.09.2010 15:26
• Story ID: 43607
• Location: BAYJI, IQ