Iraq opens 5-tpd agricultural powder pesticide factory – Milling Middle East & Africa Magazine
IRAQ – Iraq has opened a new agricultural pesticide factory in Anbar province with capacity to produce up to 5,000 litres of liquid pesticides and five tonnes of powder pesticides per day as the country seeks to strengthen local agricultural-input manufacturing and reduce reliance on imports.
The Al-Tariq factory, located in the Karma area of Anbar, is affiliated with the General Company for Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Supplies in Samarra.
The facility was established through a partnership with an Iraqi private-sector pharmaceutical company, supported by specialized international firms.
The factory has four integrated production lines covering liquid and powder pesticides, alongside a line for manufacturing plastic pesticide containers.
It also has specialized laboratories for quality control and research, creating an integrated production and testing facility.
The plant is preparing to produce 27 types of agricultural pesticides targeting different agricultural pests.
A significant portion of the factory’s capacity supports state-backed agricultural projects, which focus mainly on staple grains like wheat and barley to strengthen national food security.
The products must first be registered and approved by Iraq’s Ministry of Agriculture before they can enter the market.
The facility is expected to strengthen domestic availability of agricultural inputs as Iraq works to increase local manufacturing capacity.
The project is also part of a wider government push to expand cooperation between state-owned enterprises, private investors and international companies.
Iraq’s Ministry of Industry and Minerals said the factory reflects the government’s approach of prioritizing industries that serve the domestic market while creating jobs and increasing national production capacity.
Minister of Industry Mohammed Nouri Ahmed said the next phase would involve opening additional projects and factories and expanding partnerships with private investors and international companies.
The General Company for Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Supplies lists Al-Tariq among its factories and says it specializes in producing insecticides and rodenticides.
The factory was previously developed as an industrial facility and has been undergoing efforts to expand production, support self-sufficiency, and reduce import dependence.
Nouri, Minister of Agriculture Abdul-Rahim Jassim, the Governor of Anbar, the head of the Anbar Provincial Council, and the head of the Presidential Diwan attended the opening.
The investment adds domestic manufacturing capacity to Iraq’s agricultural-input sector while linking pesticide production with local packaging, research and quality-control capabilities.
The inauguration comes as Baghdad pushes to revive agriculture through greater local manufacturing of inputs.
Recent initiatives include customs reforms to speed up pesticide shipments, emergency procurement to combat threats such as the red palm weevil, and large-scale investments in fertilizer production, including a new compound fertiliser plant in Baiji and a planned 1.15‑million‑tonne urea facility in Basra.
The Al-Tariq plant complements these efforts by addressing the crop-protection side of the input equation, long dominated by foreign suppliers.
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