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MR. MCKELLIPS: Historically, Iraq has been the breadbasket of civilization. But very few people in Iraq remember a time when the country was able to export agricultural products. But a new program in the northern province of Dohuk might change all of that.
Mahul Mohammad's nursery is testing irrigation technologies on 400,000 new grape cuttings he planted in April of 2006. ARDI, the Agricultural Reconstruction and Development program for Iraq, has delivered 1.2 million cuttings that will serve as the genetic faces for improved vineyards throughout the northern region.
MR. MOHAMMAD: From this we receive Kamali, natural mutation. This is all variety from Saudi Arabia called Taefee and that is our local variety.
MR. MCKELLIPS: Vineyards in Iraq have suffered from poor trellising, irrigation and cultivation but that's beginning to change as cuttings from 20 local varieties will be planted to replenish old vineyards while creating superior vines.
MOHAM SALADEM: This is Moham Saladem, the owner of this vineyard.
ANOTHER NARRATOR: Now, these are the original vineyards from generations and generations. There was no trellising, no irrigation, no controls.
MR. MCKELLIPS: Drip-line irrigation allows grape producers to improve their vineyards with these new cuttings and farmers are seeing a vast improvement in the quality of their grapes.
ANOTHER NARRATOR: And you can replace these with the cuttings that we saw at the other in the nursery.
MR. MCKELLIPS: But if vineyards like this owned by Saladeem Mohammad and his father and his father's father, if it can catch on with T trellising technologies and drip irrigation, Iraq could once again be in a position where they're a great exporter of grapes.
For the State Department's Public Affairs GO Team in Iraq, I'm Paul McKellips.
