What plants grow well in Iraq?

Question

An Air Force airman on a list where people in the Armed Forces ask for care packages wants packets of plant seeds that they can give to Iraqi civilians to plant in their gardens. I would love to send him some, but he didn't specify whether he wanted vegetable seeds or flower seeds, or any specific types/species.

I'm still looking into the whole customs/US Mail thing, but it doesn't really matter if I don't know what to send him. Does anyone have an idea what would grow well in such a hot, dry place?

Answer 1

Seeing ive been to iraq, thats ILLEGAL!  its illegal to send foreign plants to other countries.  imagine if someone brought a seed from iraq to america which wasn't native to america!

It could wipe out an entire species of vegetation.

not to mention its against the law which i said earlier.

you dont have to believe me, just look it up.

Answer 2

cauktuses and look up one the internet desert plants cus on man vs wild he always finds cool plants in the desert for food and hygene so ya

Answer 3

i wouldnt know

Answer 4

i cant say u the specific name but drought resistant plants, those having a c4 mechanism, and are desiccation tolerant having a deeper tap root system should be the choice,but having said that strip farming as well as sprinklers and drip irrigation are being employed into desert lands and even watermelons are being grown.

Answer 5

Iraq does have some hot dry weather, but it also has major areas that grow rice or millet, areas that are like swamps at one time of year.

Vegetables often have to be short season varieties, not because of frost, but because the swamps do dry up.

In general, if people are not growing food, it will not be for lack of seeds, but because they have no irrigation, and are not being flooded. Seeds are available locally for everything that grows well.

Yes, people go into the  market and buy rice and millet, soy, squash...  that can be grown by anyone if they have the water and sunlight to grow things. They do not need smuggled-in seeds.

Answer 6

anything will grow there as long as it receives enough water and the approriate amount of sunlight.

Answer 7

Try Melon, Sunflower, Cotton, herbs, eggplant, okra, peas, corn

but depends on season although most good for summer heat.

The seeds of many fresh fruit you buy in iraq you can plant and best to ask some local people to supply local seeds and if in any doubt you can always plant date palms, easy and fun.

Best not to send anything but to source locally, very cheap.

Answer 8

Cacti - they strive in arid and hot conditions.

Just send the seeds in an envelope and nobody will know.

God forbid we introduce a plant to a country we're trying to wipe off the map - even though our coughs and sneezes travel the world daily. It isn't like a Canadian ice shelf is going to float into the ocean, for cripes sake.

Answer 9

I'm quiet sure that he meant vegetables for the garden. They can grow most any vegetable in Iraq as long as they use irrigation. I'm not sure how well vegetable seed from the US would be adapted there, but it would be worth a try. Make him up one of these care packages with the things that they need over there and slip in some packages of garden seed for them to try. If they do well try for sending larger quantities next time.

Answer 10

none because it will be blown up by terrorists.

Answer 11

I know that you are not allowed to bring plant material into the U.S. (without the appropriate importation approvals.)   The same may apply to other countries.  You don't want to get your Air Force friend into trouble.   I think it is great that he is trying to help the Iraqi people.

But I think you and he need to make inquiries first as to what is permissable.   Perhaps your Congressman's office would give you info on which U.S. government departments might give you some guidance: eg. Dept. of Agriculture, State Department, etc.

They might also give you some suggestions re: what would be most useful to be grown there.

Answer 12

Vegetation in Iraq reflects the dominant influence of drought. Some Mediterranean and alpine plant species thrive in the mountains of Kurdistan, but the open oak forests that formerly were found there have largely disappeared. Hawthorns, junipers, terebinths, and wild pears grow on the lower mountain slopes. A steppe region of open, treeless vegetation is located in the area extending north and northeast from the Hamrin Mountains up to the foothills and lower slopes of the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. A great variety of herbs and shrubs grow in that region. Most belong to the sage and daisy families: mugwort (Artemisis vulgaris), goosefoot, milkweed, thyme, and various rhizomic plants are examples. There also are many different grasses. Toward the riverine lowlands many other plants appear, including storksbill and plantain. Willows, tamarisks, poplars, licorice plants, and bullrushes grow along the banks of the lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The juice of the licorice plant is extracted for commercial purposes. Dozens of varieties of date palm flourish throughout southern Iraq, where the date palm dominates the landscape.

How Do Plants Survive the Desert? -- Desert plants have adapted to the extremes of heat and aridity by using both physical and behavioral mechanisms, much like desert animals. The ingenuity and variety of these many adaptations are explored in Desert Plant Survival and the Desert Food Chain

My guess is get a bunch of desert seeds for cactus, wildflowers, maybe even some kinds of trees.  if you want to do some more research, you can look into the equatorial relatives of some of the native trees / plants that grow in iraq.  but mostly the best bet would be to order some seeds form a thriving landscaping / homedepot type buisness in the region and have them deliver from 'in country', that way you wont need to deal with customs or anything, but be careful, there are those fly by night credit card theifs all over the world now adays.  it sounds like a cool idea though, thats a nice soldier that would do that for those families.