Iraq to secure water shares for Diwaniyah, include rice planting in plan

DUIVANIYAH, Iraq — Iraq’s Minister of Water Resources, Muthanna al-Tamimi, said on Wednesday that the city’s water shares will be secured and irrigation projects will be supported. He made the remarks during a visit to Diwaniyah, where he also announced that the city has been included in the summer agricultural plan for rice planting. Tamimi said work to remove waterway plants known locally as water hyacinth had expanded into a broad field campaign a few days earlier. He said the operation began in the Dagara subdistrict and would then be extended to other areas. The minister said recent declines in water reserves had not prevented government efforts from helping provide enough water for the agricultural season. The ministry also said Diwaniyah and Najaf were included in the current summer-season plan for rice cultivation.