Who are we?
An Iraqi agrometeorological network is a network of automatic weather stations. Which Coming back to the Iraqi ministry of agriculture was installed and operated in different agriculture cities in Iraq. To measure the different weather parameters that effect on agriculture like air temperature, relative humidity of the air, solar radiation, barometric pressure, wind speed and wind direction, soil temperature, soil moisture, in addition to other information like evaporation - reference, thermal assembly, and dew-point. The network is linked to the data collection center at the network center located in the Ministry of Agriculture Building in Baghdad, which transforms the data from the weather station to the center using the satellite system.
Network objective
1. Building and developing a solid, reliable, and sustainable agricultural climate database for use in schematic research, guidance, and education related to the agriculture sector and water and land used in the country.
2. Providing data and weather information in real-time and facilitating their continuous access by beneficiaries.
3. Provide the medium-term weather forecasts according to a system-linked network information. The goals above are pursued through time stages and gradually commensurate with the development of the work in the network
Basic objectives
The network seeks to help the beneficiaries of its services (in related matters) to achieve their basic goals, including the following:
Reducing risks and losses.
Contribute to developing countries' food security.
Increasing agricultural production and improving its quality.
Increasing the farmer's income.
Beneficiaries of network
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1 |
farmers |
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2 |
Agricultural planners |
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3 |
Researcher |
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Agricultural guides |
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5 |
Producers |
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6 |
Agricultural investors |
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7 |
Specialized universities and colleges |
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8 |
Government agencies |
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9 |
Private sector |
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Non, governmental Organizations |
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11 |
International Aid Donor |
Locations of the installation of agromet stations
Agromet stations are distributed within the irrigated and rain-fed areas of agriculture, in addition to desert areas where the stations have been installed in sites belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture as follows: :
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Guided farms |
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Agricultural research stations |
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Gardening and palm stations |
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Desert Oases |
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Natural pasture plants |
Distribution of agricultural Agromet stations
The geographical distribution of agromet stations was carried out according to two basic determinants, the first of which is the conditions set by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for the distribution of specialized agricultural meteorological networks, the second is local conditions related to the need for weather and agromet data and information for agricultural use. The most important considerations that are taken into account for the distribution of network stations can be defined geographically and as follows:
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1 |
High density of stations in high-level areas and lower stations in low and flat areas. . |
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2 |
Considering the coverage of distribution in all areas of climate diversity in the country. . |
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3 |
Take into account the distribution of the main agricultural areas of the country, whether irrigated or rainy, as well as natural grazing areas. |
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Stations are not placed within cities or airports at all because they do not represent the real agricultural reality . |
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Try to increase the number of stations to cover more agricultural areas so that farmers feel that the plants represent the nature of their agricultural reality. . |
Difficulties and challenges
Despite the great ambition in implementing the network, the work faces many difficulties and challenges, most of which are related to the general conditions of the country and perhaps the most prominent of these challenges is the following: :
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The difficult security situation in the country, especially since the project is implementing work in remote areas far from the city centers, which causes delays in the installation and maintenance of stations and the implementation of the communication network. . |
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The network of communications is weak, especially since work is carried out in remote agricultural areas away from city centers. . |
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Lack of local experience where the implementation of the network is a pioneering work carried out for the first time, and there is no specialized technical staff before implementation, who requires more time for education and gaining experience. . |
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The inability to use specialized foreign expertise on-site due to the security situation. . |