Investigate the Optimum Agricultural Crops Production Seasons in Salah Al-Din Governorate Utilizing Climate Remote Sensing Data and Agro- Climatic Zoning

Agriculture is one of the major sources of livelihood for the Iraqi people as onethird of Iraq population resides in rural areas and depends upon agriculture for their livelihoods. This study aims to estimate the impact of temperature variability on crops productivity across the agro-climatic zones in Salah Al-Din governorate using climate satellite-based data for the period 2000 to 2018. The average annual air temperature based on satellite data was downloaded from the GLDAS Model NOAH025_M v2.1, and interpolates using Kriging interpolation/spherical model. Thirteen strategic crops were selected which is Courgette, garlic, Onion, Sweet Pepper, Watermelon, Melon, Cucumber, Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Wheat, Barley, and Maize. Temperature requirements for each crop during the growing period were compared with actual temperature from GLDAS data. The study highlighted the impacts of temperature changes on agricultural productivity. The results show that there are some crops that are not achieving optimum productivity, such as Courgette first seasons (December-March), Garlic, Onion, and Cucumber. Whereas, there are other crops that achieve good productivity, such as Courgette second season (MarchJune), Sweet Pepper, Watermelon, Melon, Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Maize, Wheat, and Barley. The study recommends proper mitigate and adaptive strategies to enhance the positive and lessen the adverse impacts of temperature changes on crops productivity across agro-climatic zones in Iraq. Keyword: Agro-Climatic, temperature change, remote sensing, GIS; Iraq. مادختساب نيدلا حلاص ةظفاحم يف ةيعا رزلا ليصاحملل لثملأا جاتنلإا مساهم ديدحت تانايب سدحتلا ةيخانملا يئانلا ةيعا رزلا ةيخانملا ميلاقلااو ناهلع ميركلا دبع محا زما 1 ، ميرك ديمح نيدح 1 ، زيزع دمحا ةيدان * 2 1 ةينجسلا ةسجشهلا ؼدق ،ةيجؾلؾشكتلا ةعماجلا ، داجغب ، .قا خعلا 2 تلاارتلااو ءازفلا ةخئاد ، ايجؾلؾشكتلاو مؾلعلا ةرا زو ، داجغب ، .قا خعلا ةصلاخلا بعذلل قزخلا بدكل ةيديئخلا ردارسلا ؽم ةجحاو ةعا ردلا خبتعت ،يقا خعلا يف قا خعلا ناكس ثلث شيعي ثيح .ؼهذيع بدك يف ةعا ردلا ىلع نوجستعيو ةيفيخلا قطاشسلا ةسا رجلا هحه فجهت جيجحت ىلا تاجرد تا خييغت خيثأت ISSN: 0067-2904 Alwan et al. Iraqi Journal of Science, 2019, Vol.60, No.9, pp: 2087-2094 2088 ليصاحسلا ةيجاتنإ ىلع ةرا خحلا يف ةيعا ردلا ةيخاشسلا قطاشسلا ل تانايبلا ماجختساب ؽيجلا حلاص ةغفاحس اشرلا راسقلأا ؽم ةجستدسلا ةيخاشسلا ماع ؽم ةختفلل ةيع 2222 ماع ىلإ 2212 طسؾتم ليدشت ؼت . ةجرد ةرا خح ءاؾهلا ةيؾشدلا ؽم ةيعاشرلا راسقلأا تانايب ( GLDAS NOAH025_M (v2.1 خذع ةثلاث رايتخا ؼت . ،مؾثلا ،اسؾكلا يهو اًيجيتا ختسا لًاؾرحم ،لربلا لفلفلا ،ؾلحلا ،خيظبلا لا يقخ ، ،رايخلا ،ؼطاسظلا ،اطاظبلا ،ناجنذابلا ،حسقلا ةجرد عم ؾسشلا ةختف للاخ لؾرحم لكل ةرا خحلا ةجرد تابلظتم ةنراقم تست .ةرحلاو خيعذلا تانايب ؽم ةيلعفلا ةرا خحلا GLDAS ىلع ةرا خحلا تاجرد يف تا خيغتلا راثآ ىلع ءؾزلا ةسا رجلا تظلس . قحت لا يتلا ليصاحسلا ضعب كاشه نأ جئاتشلا تخهعا .ةيعا ردلا ةيجاتنلإا لثم ،ةلؾبقم ةيجاتنا ق لؾرحم ىخخأ ليصاحم ججؾت ػلذ ىلا ةفاضإ .رايخلاو لربلاو مؾثلاو )سرام ىلإ خبسديد ؽم( لولأا ؼسؾسلا اسؾكلا ،خيظبلا ،خيظبلا ،ؾلحلا لفلفلا ،)ؾينؾي ىلإ سرام ؽم( يناثلا ؼسؾسلا اسؾكلا لثم ،ةجيج ةيجاتنإ ققحت طاظبلا ،ؼطاسظلا ا لا ،ةرحلا ،ناجنذابلا ، ؽم فيفختلل ةبساشم تايجيتا ختسا داجيإب ةسا رجلا يصؾت .خيعذلاو حسق ليصاحسلا ةيجاتنإ ىلع ةرا خحلا تاجرد يف تا خيغتلا راثا ل .قا خعلا يف ةيعا ردلا ةيخاشسلا قطاشسل


Introduction
Agriculture is one of the major sources of livelihood for the Iraqi people as one-third of Iraq population resides in rural areas and depends upon agriculture for their livelihoods. Additionally, is the main source of employment in rural areas, with crop production being the major source of income for 75% percent of Iraqi farmers. The sector of agriculture provides 20 % of employment and it is the second contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) after the oil sector in Iraq. The World Food Programme (WFP)/Government of Iraq food security analysis conducted in 2007/2008 revealed that about 930,000 Iraqis are food-insecure, and about six and a half million are on the threshold of food insecurity [1]. Food security is defined as the condition when "all people, at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life". Improved food security that relies on firm sustainable food systems that make advantages from information technologies is essential to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [2].
Understanding the association between crops productivity and climatic variables such as temperature and precipitation become a high priority [3]. To address this, spatiotemporal tools that can integrate climate data with other information of interest are required. Remote sensing plays an important role in various studies as it provides up-to-date information on spatial and temporal scales. Climate remote sensing data provides the opportunity to monitor vegetation dynamics in a systematic manner [4]. In another hand, GIS is the basic platform through which data can be easily stored, its packages of applications were used by specialists in the various field especially in the environmental studies [5][6][7][8]. The satellite has emerged as an effective tool for monitoring and assessing areas [9]. Among the available global gridded reanalysis datasets, Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) offers several advantages; Firstly, GLDAS provides a consistent quality-controlled long global gridded time-series of the required variables at a high spatial resolution, and secondly, it runs in near real time, offering the potential to regularly update the database [10]. Comparing the land data assimilation system with other simulation models, the advantage of GLDAS's data is that it is closer to the actual situation and the results are more in line with the actual standards [11].
Agro-Climatic Zones (ACZs) are recognized areas with different potential products according to their environmental conditions. All plants are sensitive to weather conditions in a way or another. They have a minimum, as well as, maximum requirements regarding weather conditions to satisfy their physiological needs; beyond certain limits, they are negatively affected. Evidently, as climate changes, the ACZs change and adjustments need to be made to identify most suited crops for the new conditions. Literature shows attempts to manage the challenge of increasing productivity through matching agricultural products with favorable climatic conditions. For example, Kamali [12] studied the importance of relating cultivating different agricultural crops to bio-climatic potentials in each region. Whereas Venkateshwarlu et al. [13] highlighted the relationships between climatic variables and crops in a region. Robertson [14] considered the relationship between climatic variables and wheat growth in Canada. Baban [15] discussed the agricultural productivity in Kurdistan/Iraq; he proposed a way forward through identifying the major physical and climatic parameters influencing agricultural productivity.

Alwan et al.
Iraqi Journal of Science, 2019, Vol.60, No.9, pp: 2087-20942089 This study aims to estimate the impact of temperature variability on crops productivity across the ACZs in Salah Al-Din governorate using climate satellite-based data for the period 2000 to 2018. Thirteen strategic crops were selected which is Courgette, garlic, Onion, Sweet Pepper, Watermelon, Melon, Cucumber, Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Wheat, Barley, and Maize.

Materials and methods 2.1. Study Area
he study area lies in Salah-Al-Din Governorate north of aghdad capital, etween longitudes -, and latitudes igure-1). It is an important economic area, where the primary source of livelihood is agriculture, especially crops of grain production, such as wheat, barley and corn. Farmers depend on rainwater and groundwater to plant some summer and winter vegetables [16]. The areas of the two banks of the Tigris and the Al-Idhaim rivers depend on the water of these rivers for agriculture. Figure-1 Location of the study area.

Climate remote sensing data
The GLDAS aims to integrate the satellite-based data and ground observational data, by advanced land surface modeling and data assimilation techniques, to generate optimal fields of land surface states [16]. There are four GLDAS models coalesce data from both of the land surface and satellites, which is, Mosaic, Noah, the Community Land Model (CLM), and the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC). All four GLDAS models are widely used in climate research [17]. In this study, the average annual air temperature based on satellite data during the period January 2000 to January 2018 was downloaded from the GLDAS Model NOAH025_M v2.1 with a spatial resolution of 0.25 x 0.25 degree. The temperature data were in the Kelvin unit (Kº), and was converted to Celsius (Cº) using the equation: ……………………..… 1) Monthly and annual temperature have spatial structure and their spatial variation conforms to the spherical and exponential models [18,19]. In this study, the Kriging interpolation/spherical model was used to interpolate the temperature data using Arc GIS 10.5 software. The mean temperature during the warmest month, which is July, varied from 35.8 ºC to 37.9 ºC. The mean temperature during the

Agro-Climatic Classification
Agro-climatology is highly valuable in the identification of agro-climates with the optimal conditions to introduce new agricultural crops. The requirements, limits and bio-meteorological tolerance and conditions of crops must be evaluated with reference to the native areas climatological characteristics for successful cultivation around the world [20]. The agro-climatic zones can be defined as integrating and homogeneous portions of land in which the particular combinations of potentially available water resources and climate conditions create unique environments more or less suitable for crops cultivation. The agro-climatic classification is defining the major climate condition and its suitability for the cultivation of certain crops. The ACZs of an area helps to define the ecological potential of that area. In order to define the ACZs, a classification system is used which is based on three criteria; winter type, summer type and moisture regime [21].

Crops thermal requirements
This study aims to estimate the impact of temperature variability on the productivity of the crops across the ACZs in Salah Al-Din governorate. Thirteen strategic crops were selected which is Courgette, garlic, Onion, Sweet Pepper, Watermelon, Melon, Cucumber, Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Wheat, Barley, and Maize. Temperature requirements for each crops during the growing period were compared with actual temperature from GLDAS data (Figure-2). Table-1 shows the temperature requirements for the selected crops; this data was collected from the Ministry of Agriculture/Iraq.

Estimation of the Crops Productivity 3.2.1 Courgette
Courgette is cultivated in two seasons, in the first season; it is planted in December and harvested in March. By monitoring the mean temperature during the period December-March, it is shown that the mean temperature is less than the minimum required. According to this, it may not be helpful for acceptable productivity. In the second season, it is planted in March and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during the period of March-June, it is shown that the temperature is optimum. Accordingly, it is recommended to cultivate Courgette in the second season.

Garlic
Garlic is planted in September and harvested in May. By monitoring the mean temperature during the period September-May, it is shown that the mean temperature is less than the minimum required in three months (December, January, and February). Accordingly, it may not be helpful for acceptable productivity.

Onion
Onion is planted in September and harvested in May. By monitoring the mean temperature during the period September-May, it is shown that the mean temperature is less than the minimum required in three months (December, January, and February). Accordingly, it may not be helpful for acceptable productivity.

Sweet Pepper
Sweet Pepper is cultivated in two seasons. In the first season, it is planted in April and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it found that the temperature is suitable. In the second season, it is planted in May and harvested in August, by monitoring the mean temperature during this period it is shown that the temperature is optimum. Accordingly, the two seasons are suitable, but the second one may achieve better productivity.

Watermelon and Melon
Watermelon and Melon are cultivated in two seasons. In the first season, it is planted in April and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is shown that the temperature is suitable. In the second season, it is planted in June and harvested in September. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is shown that the temperature is optimum. Accordingly, the two seasons are suitable, but the second one may achieve better productivity.

Cucumber
Cucumber is planted in March and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is found that the temperature is less than the minimum required in two months (March, and April), as well as, it higher than the maximum required in June. Accordingly, it may not be helpful for acceptable productivity.

Tomato
Tomato it is planted in April and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is shown that the temperature is suitable. According to this, it is expected to achieve acceptable productivity.

Potato
Potato is cultivated in two seasons. In the first season, it is planted in November and harvested in April. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period; it is shown that the temperature is slightly less than the minimum required in January. In the second season, it is planted in April and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is shown that the temperature is slightly higher than the maximum required in June. According to this, the two seasons are suitable and expected to achieve acceptable productivity.

Eggplant
Eggplant is planted in February and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is shown that the temperature is slightly less than the minimum required in February. Accordingly, it may achieve acceptable productivity.

Wheat
Wheat is planted in November and harvested in May. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is shown that the temperature is suitable and may achieve good productivity.

Barley
Barley is planted in November and harvested in June. By monitoring the mean temperature during this period, it is shown that the temperature is suitable and it may achieve good productivity.

Maize
Maize is cultivated in two seasons. In the first season, it is planted in June and harvested in October. In the second season, it is planted in April and harvested in August. By monitoring the mean temperature during these periods, it found that the temperature is slightly higher than the maximum required. Accordingly, the two seasons may be of acceptable productivity.

Conclusions
This study aims to estimate the effect of temperature on thirteen selected strategic crops yields cultivated across three ACZs in Salah Al-Din Governorate. Satellite-based data for the period 2000 to 2018 were used. Temperature is an important determinant affecting crops productivity. The result shows that there are crops that are not achieving acceptable productivity, such as Courgette first seasons (December-March), Garlic, Onion, and Cucumber. Whereas, there are other crops that are achieving acceptable productivity, such as Courgette second season (March-June), Sweet Pepper, Watermelon, Melon, Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Wheat, Maize, and Barley. Finally, the study recommends proper mitigate and adaptive strategies to enhance the positive and lessen the adverse impact of temperature change on crops productivity across ACZs in Iraq. Additional researches are recommended to investigate the impact of other climate variables on crop yields productivity across the ACZs in Iraq.