Farmers in Central and southern lands of Iraq to leave their land and sell cattle for lack of water to sustain agriculture, said the Agency Prensa Latina on August 17.

The Tigris river is currently turned into a meager stream. Irrigation canals to the North of Baghdad have dried up, not even enough drinking water. Ministry of water resources is not able to provide water to all needy farmers.

The Ministry of agriculture accuses colleagues from the Ministry of water resources non-use of modern methods, including drip irrigation. At the beginning of the year, the government banned the cultivation of crops that require large amounts of water. This week the Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Audiotravel for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the issue of water scarcity.

Experts predict that up to 25% of farmers in southern Iraq, unable to leave their homes because of lack of water and exhaustion of the earth. This summer, 10 million acres of land have been treated only 150 thousand.