USING OF AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION, FERTILIZERS AND IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION OF DESERT AREAS IN KARBALA GOVERNORATE

Abstract

This research deals with the impact of the use of agricultural mechanization, modern irrigation techniques, fertilizers and fertilization on the level of agricultural production of desert lands in the holy province of Karbala, using models of farms in the two divisions, the desert division and the Ain al-Tamr division, which are lands that are characterized by a desert climate, a comparison was made to measure the efficiency of the farms selected from the study area for the previous and subsequent years with the farms in the same area, however, there is a difference in the uses of agricultural mechanization, fertilizers, fertilization and modern irrigation techniques, as the study dealt with a number of farms of the desert division and farms from the Ain al-Tamr division to determine the level of development in the level of agricultural production before and after the use of modern agricultural mechanization, fertilizers and modern irrigation techniques in desert areas for a period of two years in a row (2019,2020), as the study area is Ain al-Tamr division, which takes an astronomical location between longitudes (043.15-043.45) east and latitudes (032.10-032.45) north with an area of 14230 dunums according to the statistics of the Karbala Agriculture Division for the year 2008, it is geographically bordered to the east by the Indian district and to the north, occupying a large part of Lake Al-Razzazah and the rest of its sides, bordered by the province of Anbar, as for the desert division, it is located astronomically between the longitudes (044.85-043.38) east it has an area of about .423 km 2 and is located within the western desert plateau with an area of 156223 acres according to the statistics of the Directorate of Agriculture for the year (2008), as for the area of the holy province of Karbala, it is about (52,941 km2). The main problem of the study is crystallized in showing the role of the use of mechanization and modern irrigation methods and fertilization in raising the level of agricultural production in the province of Karbala in the desert areas of those two divisions mentioned above, the research has adopted in its hypothesis, which he deduced from the current reality of Karbala province, where it reached advanced stages in achieving agricultural development, this came as a result of the agricultural projects that have been carried out recently in recent years in the desert areas of the province by relying on the use of mechanization instead of labor and the use of groundwater storage located in the western plateau area of Karbala province, this is done through the drilling of artesian wells and water technicians, as well as the development of many aspects that paved and facilitated the way for the development and upgrading of agricultural production in the study area, among these aspects, we mention the economic, climatic and environmental aspect by addressing desertification through the cultivation of the desert, which led to the reclamation of the environment and raising the level of agricultural and economic production, the objective of the study is to analyze the reality of agriculture and develop solutions to meet the challenges in the cultivation of desert lands from Karbala province and to identify the most important obstacles and challenges facing agriculture in those areas and address them and to indicate and analyze the role and importance of using modern agricultural machinery and reduce manpower and save effort and expand the area exploited to improve the physical properties of desert soils and make them a giving soil using the optimal use of fertilization, in order to reach the objective of the study, it was adopted to measure the plant production efficiency of a number of farms through the data obtained from field visits to farms to the desert area available and at the level of the desert divisions and the Ain Al-Tamr division, which is the study area, after collecting and completing the information, it was classified and classified in tables and forms, many approaches were followed, including the analysis of those data and their presentation in order to reach and stand on the best expected results adopted by the study.