China-made machinery empowers Iraqi farmers

BAGHDAD - Maliha Hussein, a 70-year-old Iraqi farmer, did not image how the Chinese technology would change the traditional farming in the Iraqi countryside after spending most of her life doing various fieldwork mainly with her own hands.

"Every day at dawn, I used to mow the grass and clean the farm and the waterways to provide fodder for the cattle. I suffered from arthritis pain," Hussein said, as she sat on the edge of her farm in the town of al-Alam, some 10 km east of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province in the north of Baghdad.

But her grandson Farouq, 31, is now doing the same work much quickly and easily, because he bought a grass-cutter machine imported from China.

It enables him to cut the grass, clean the watercourses and even mow the lawn of the family house in a short time without much fatigue or boredom.

Farouq, who turned to farming because of the unemployment he suffered in the years after graduation from college, seemed quite impressed with his China-made machine.

"The Chinese have changed our lives with their technological innovations. This machine facilitated the process of providing fodder and raising livestock. I managed to increase the number of cows from two to five with less effort," he said.

Asim Mahmoud, another Iraqi farmer, also praised his Chinamade plowing machine that helps him to take care of his grape groves in a more efficient way.

"Grape groves need to be continuously shovelled to provide the necessary soil aeration and facilitate water absorption of the roots," a task which is very arduous to do with traditional plowing tools, he explained.

Mahmoud said that his new China-made machine only needs little maintenance but helps a lot. In the past, he had to hire a worker to cultivate his land, but now, with the help of his machine, he can do it himself.

At the Al-Falah Agricultural Office in central Tikrit, a variety of China-made machinery and equipment are on display.

Jamal Abdul Rahman, owner of the office, said that there is big demand among local farmers for light agricultural equipment from China, especially the owners of small farms.

"The machinery, such as plowing and sowing machines, are needed by the farmers," Abdul Rahman said.

Prices for middle-sized Chinese farming machines, ranging from $400 to $800, are affordable to the Iraqi farmers, while the grass-cutters are sold at much cheaper prices at around $100 and $150.

The China-Iraq ties have been flourishing in recent years, resulting in a rise in investment by Chinese companies in Iraq, most notably in the oil and electricity sectors.

Also, with the growth in the China-Iraq trade, more China-made equipment are imported into Iraq to make work more efficient and life much easier.

The China-Iraq ties are expected to see more progress in the near future after the recent visit of Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to China and the signing of a number of agreements with Beijing.