Thu Oct 23, 2008
By Ahmed Rasheed and Missy Ryan
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A severe drought will force Iraq to import 40 percent more wheat in 2008/09, the agriculture minister said, even as the country struggles to revive a sector crippled by decades of neglect and decay. "In 2007, average rainfall was just 40 percent of the normal level in Iraq, falling more than half and severely affecting crop production," Agriculture Minister Ali al-Bahadli told Reuters in an interview. http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GCA-iraq/idUSTRE49M65220081023?sp=true