Agriculture—West Asia

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Agriculture Summary

Agriculture—West Asia

Although industry is advancing more rapidly than agriculture, the latter is of considerable importance in the economies of West Asian nations. Local farming produces much of the food consumed in the region and employs a large part of the workforce. The value added by agriculture to the gross national product (GNP), as well as the number of people employed in agriculture, has shown great variability. This variability is due to the economic and political crises experienced in the region and to agriculture's vulnerability to the vagaries of the weather. In Turkey, agriculture usually contributes about 16 percent of the GNP, in Iran about 20 percent, and in Iraq about 40 percent. In the 1990s, agriculture employed approximately 40 percent of the workforce in Turkey and about 30 percent in Iran and Iraq.

**TABLE 1:**
**Land use and irrigation in 1998**
(in thousands of hectares)
Country	Total area	Land area	Arable land	Permanent crops	Permanent pasture (1994 data)	Forest and woodland (1994 data)	Other land (1994 data)	Irrigated land	As % of land area
SOURCE: Data for this table from European Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001) and International Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001).
Iran	163,319	162,200	16,837	1,966	44,000	11,400	87,841	7,562	4.66
Iraq	43,832	43,737	5,200	340	4,000	192	33,765	3,525	8.06
Turkey	77,482	76,963	24,438	2,530	12,378	20,199	16,615	4,200	5.46
Total	284,633	282,900	46,475	4,836	60,378	31,791	138,221	15,287	5.40

Wheat fields along the road between Shahrud and Shahpasand, Iran. (ROGER WOOD/CORBIS)

Natural Conditions

Natural conditions play an important role in agriculture in West Asia. Climate, for example, is especially significant for agriculture and varies greatly from one subregion of West Asia to another. Both the growing season and the range of crops are limited by the amount of precipitation, which, in general, is insufficient in West Asia. Average annual precipitation ranges from 5 centimeters in the Iranian deserts to more than 254 centimeters near the Black Sea in Turkey. Only about one-fourth of the land in Iran can be farmed because of a severe water shortage.

The most productive farmlands in Turkey are Thrace, the Mesopotamian lowlands, and the coastal regions; in Iran, the most productive farmlands are the Caspian Sea coast and the fertile valleys in the northern and central parts of the Zagros Mountains; in Iraq, the southern plain, which begins near Samarra and extends southeast to the Arabian-Persian Gulf. More than half of West Asia's arable land is in Turkey, and half of the irrigated land in the region is in Iran. (See Table 1.)

Contemporary Status

On the basis of the methods used, the agrarian sector of West Asia must be defined as highly dualistic. Generally, in the most productive subregions, agriculture has a high level of mechanization, uses modern irrigation schemes, and has considerable export potential. In contrast, in the remote mountain subregions, the wooden plow and hoe are still the most

**TABLE 2:**
**Production of cereals in 1999**
(in thousands of metric tons)
Country	Wheat	Barley	Maize	Rice	Total
SOURCE: Data for this table from European Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001) and International Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001).
Iran	8,687	1,919	941	2,300	13,847
Iraq	800	500	100	240	1,640
Turkey	18,000	9,000	2,400	317	29,717
Total	27,487	11,419	3,441	2,857	45,204

commonly used agricultural implements. In the Anatolian plateau and eastern Turkey, as well as in the northern plain in Iraq and in the central plateau of Iran, modern agricultural machinery is used on only a limited scale.

There are big differences among the nations in agricultural production. Turkey has a strong agricultural base. It is self-sufficient in cereals and exports much of its agrarian production. Turkish farms are predominantly family businesses with small landholdings. One of the main problems in Turkish agriculture is that the average size of farms is declining because of the inheritance custom of dividing land equally among sons. Large estates do still exist, mainly in the south, but about 70 percent of farmers cultivate holdings of just 1.5 hectares.

Iran must import much of its food. Before 1970, Iran was self-sufficient in agricultural production and exported many crops. However, contemporary Iran faces many problems because successive governments have neglected agriculture, the population has increased rapidly, and the productivity of farms is low.

In the 1990s, Iraq's agriculture experienced serious problems. Some of these problems were due to

**TABLE 3:**
**Production of selected crops in 1999**
(in thousands of metric tons)
Country	Sugar beet	Tomatoes	Potatoes	Grapes	Apples
SOURCE: Data for this table from European Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001) and International Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001).
Iran	4,987	3,204	3,430	2,315	1,944
Iraq	8	800	380	290	80
Turkey	20,000	6,600	5,315	3,650	2,500
Total	24,995	10,604	9,125	6,255	4,524

scarceness of agricultural inputs (that is, fertilizer and pesticides) caused by U.N. sanctions since 1990. Even with good rainfall, contemporary Iraq usually has low crop production, which is attributed to inadequate use of fertilizer and herbicides; poor land preparation due to lack of machinery; deteriorated farm and irrigation infrastructure; increased infestation by insects, pests, and weeds; and continuous use of land without crop rotation.

Agricultural Structure

In West Asia, farming and animal husbandry are equally developed. About 50 percent of the cropland is used to grow grains. Wheat is the chief grain, followed by barley and maize. Turkey is the main producer of cereals in the region. (See Table 2.) Central Anatolia accounts for nearly 40 percent of Turkish wheat production. However, this subregion often has long droughts that cause serious losses of crops.

West Asia is a major producer of sugar beets, potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. (See Table 3.) Large quantities of cotton are grown for both fiber and cottonseed oil. Turkey produces and exports large quantities of tobacco, which is grown along the Black and Aegean Seas, as well as eggplants, grapes and raisins, hazelnuts,

**TABLE 4:**
**Circulation of livestock in 1999**
(in thousands)
Country	Horses	Cattle	Sheep	Goats
SOURCE: Data for this table from European Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001) and International Marketing Data and Statistics 2001 (2001).
Iran	250	8,047	53,900	25,757
Iraq	46	1,100	6,000	1,300
Turkey	391	11,185	30,238	8,376
Total	687	20,332	90,138	35,433

melons, and oranges. Iran exports dried fruits and nuts.

The mainstays of West Asia's stockbreeding are sheep and goats. (See Table 4.) Nomadic stockbreeding still exists in some areas, especially in western and southwestern Iran. Turkey raises half of the world's Angora goats. Wool is Turkey's most valuable livestock product. Iran is among the world's largest exporters of karakul lamb. Turkey and Iran supply the world with large quantities of hides and skins.

Turkey is the main producer and exporter of agricultural products in West Asia. About half of Turkish agricultural exports are shipped to the European Union. Other main markets include the Middle East and North Africa, which absorb about half the exports of fruits and vegetables and virtually all the exports of livestock and meat.

Dimitar L. Dimitrov