$100 m spent within agricultural initiative in 2 years

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Agriculture Minister Akram al-Hakim said on Monday that the agricultural initiative’s allocation in 2008 and 2009 reached $100 million distributed in form of eased loans to farmers. This came during a press conference held at the ministry to discuss the agricultural ministry’s initiatives, attended by the agriculture minister and a number of specialists in the agricultural sector. “The agricultural initiative’s allocations was divided between 2008 and 2009, as $50 million were spent in each year,” the minister explained, noting the appearance of the outcome of this initiative are due to the development of the agriculture in Iraq, mainly in increasing the production percentages. SH (P)/SR 2