Date palm crops sprayed in Babil, Karbala provinces

Photo By Maj. Anna Friederich | Imad Lefta, Hillah mayor, talks to reporters at Forward Operating Base Charlie Fridayafter checking on spraying operations. Aerial spraying of the date palm crops wound down in the Babil province but is gearing up in Karbala areas this week.  

ISKANDARIYAH, IRAQ

05.10.2006

Story by Maj. Anna Friederich 

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

FOB KALSU, Iraq - Aerial spraying of the date palms, which began last week in the Babil province, is drawing to a close; now the focus is shifting to the Karbala province.

Four MI-2 helicopters from Skylink, Arabia, a Russian contractor based in Baghdad, cut a path across the sky as they descended into FOB Charlie in Hillah to refuel. Once refueled, they refilled insecticide containers and lifted off again to spread the solution on the date palm groves across the province.

n the last several years, the Date palm groves in Iraq, once producing 30 percent of the worlds date supply. Once a thriving crop, it has been severely reduced by drought, security issues and insect infestation.

To control the progressive loss of the crop and regenerate the industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Coalition Forces teamed up to combat the problem with aerial spraying operations.

Farmers were notified of the spraying an instructed on how to prepare and precautions they should take prior to the operations. There was some concern that information did not reach all the farmers.

Ali Kadim Ybeez, a representative from the Iraqi government Ministry of Agriculture and advisor during spraying operations, said it is going smoothly, the flights on schedule and the farmers appear to be prepared.

"Extensive information was put out prior to spraying " on the television, radio and in the newspapers. We received many calls from farmers thanking us for the spraying saying they look forward to abundant crops in the future," said Kadim.

At approximately one liter per acre, an estimated 5,000 square kilometers of date palm groves were sprayed each day averaging five to six trips for the aircraft. Approximately 25,000 square Kilometers of the crop has already been treated.

Kadim also said he hopes that by spraying, they will see at least a 50 percent increase in production during the harvest season, (July through October).

"This increase will help the farmers, not only by increasing their production and income, but by bringing their families back home," said Kadim.

The decrease in production has forced many family members, especially the young adults, to seek employment outside their regions.

Sergiy Nebuyev, Slylink Arabia project manager, ensured the pilots were briefed on the areas to be sprayed each morning and given the weather forecast. He also supervised the ground crew running the refilling operation, transportation and delivery of the barrels of insecticide to the site.

"The operation is pretty simple; the MOA representatives work with the pilots and show them on a map the exact location to drop the insecticide prior to the flight and while they're in the air, " said Nebuyev. The spraying seems to be going smoothly and support from Coalition Forces has really helped.

The Hillah mayor, Imad Lefta, who was on the ground floor of the project, came to the airfield at FOB Charlie to check on operations. He said the spraying efforts could not have been realized without the help of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams and the Provincial Reconstruction and Development Committee who initiated the project and assisted in the planning.

"The decrease in date production was a blow to our economy, it was the one crop the farmers depended on," he said. An increase in date production will mean more jobs in the area.

"Hopefully by creating more jobs terrorist acts will be reduced in our area," he said.

As the temperature rose, conditions for spraying decreased and the last flights of the morning wound down. The pilots welcomed the reprieve, but as evening approached they were ready to do it all over again.

• Date Taken: 05.10.2006
• Date Posted: 05.10.2006 09:04
• Story ID: 6330
• Location: ISKANDARIYAH, IQ