Education needed to revitalize ag in Iraq

A group of agriculture department deans from universities around the country traveled to Iraq in December to assess the future of the embattled country's agriculture industry. Among them was James Hill, the associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Science.

Currently, Iraq imports a whopping 85 percent of its food. But there is hope for a thriving agriculture industry inside the Middle Eastern country, Hill told Capital Press reporter Mitch Lies.

"They definitely have the right climate and the right soil," Hill was quoted in the story. "They definitely have water and salinity problems, but they have a lot of opportunities."

There are additional obstacles to overcome, including archaic farming practices, a lack of infrastructure for food production and distribution, a lack of knowledge and a lack of trained educators.

The deans -- who also represented Kansas State, Michigan State, Oregon State, Penn State, Auburn and Iowa State -- suggest that Iraqi universities offer their faculty six-month and one-year sabbaticals to U.S. universities. They also recommend that the Iraqi government offer Iraqi students full scholarships to U.S. universities to study agriculture.