Agricultural conf. in Thi-Qar soon

THI-QAR / IraqiNews.com: In cooperation with a local science center, the Faculty of Agriculture in Thi-Qar University will hold a conference next week to tackle the problems facing farmers and water shortage in the province. “Under the title ‘From Peasant to Peasant’ the conference will take place on October 20 to discuss the agricultural situation in the city,” the chairman of the Union of Farming Societies, Miqdad al-Yasseri, told IraqiNews.com. The conference will be held at the city’s cultural center hall and will focus on three fundamental issues: plant production, animal husbandry and water resources. Researchers from the center and the agriculture faculty will lecture at the conference, Yasseri noted. Thi-Qar, 380 km south of Baghad, has an area of 12,900 square kilometers (4,980.7 sq mi). In 2003 the estimated population of the governorate was 1,454,200 people. Thi-Qar was the second Iraqi province where security responsibilities were transferred from the Multi-National Force (MNF) to the Iraqis. The province’s capital is the city of al-Nassiriya. It also includes the ancient Sumerian ruins of Ur, Eridu, Lagash and Ngirsu. Before 1976 the province was known as al-Muntafiq. SS (S) 1