Dr Piggin said the changed practices were designed to be able to be adopted to the simple mechanised systems used by the Iraqi farmers.

“We are using small scale no-till planters, and are mulching stubbles to provide some ground cover to limit erosion.”

The northern Iraq region has a similar rainfall to Australia’s low rainfall cropping zones, between 300 and 500mm.

Seasonally, it is much the same, with a true Mediterranean climate, with winter-dominant rainfall and virtually no rain over the summer.

March is the critical spring month for crops, the equivalent of October in Australia.

The region is dry, but Dr Piggin said the soil was probably superior to much of Australia’s cropping regions.

“It is generally good structured soil on the alluvial plains of the Tigris, it has good clay content and good water holding capacity.”

However, one issue for Iraqi farmers not faced by their Aussie counterparts is the biting cold, with winter conditions down to -10 degrees as icy winds blow down from the Russian steppes.

Dr Piggin said many families would crop between 20 and 30 hectares, with bigger farm families cropping up to 500ha between all family members.

“The big thing was getting them into sustainable cropping, they had worked very much on fallow systems, where they cultivate two or three times prior to planting.”

Rotationally, they grow wheat, barley, chickpeas and lentils, with the focus on the cereals.

Wheat is the major crop in the wetter parts of the region, while hardier barley is the choice in drier areas.

There are small scale plantings of pulses, but Dr Piggin said that economically, the cereals were far better cash crops, and agronomically, the pulse crops were at more risk of failing due to drought.

Yield-wise, the cereal crops varied from 0.5t/ha, with a bumper harvest a yield of 1.5t/ha.

Changing management practices by going no-till, including earlier planting, which makes better use of early season rain, has improved yields in trials by 20 to 100pc.

“There’s a lot of management change that can help,” Dr Piggin said.

“Changing from the late planting made necessary by all the pre-planting cultivations, to early sowing, and moving to narrow tines on wider spacings has had a big impact.”

Already, Iraqi farmers are looking to follow the lead of their Syrian neighbours, where no-till is becoming increasingly popular.

“Farmers are seeing no-till crops in dry years set seed, while crops on cultivated paddocks fail, and they realise that it is working.”

There is already 3000ha of farmland being planted no-till in Iraq and Dr Piggin forecasts that figure will rise as farmers look to minimise risk in their dry environment.

Tailoring no-till, which in Australia is associated with big equipment and big horse power tractors, to the smaller scale of farming in Iraq has proved a challenge, but Dr Piggin said inventive local machinery manufacturers have been up to it.

“We’ve linked up with the local seeder manufacturers and they have been able to provide low-cost no-till seeding equipment.

“It’s basically local blacksmiths and they have been able to come up with an affordable option for the farmers.”

Along with the narrow tine, wide row features of the seeders, they have also been spring-loaded to allow farmers to get through the rocky parts of their paddocks, while they also have double-banding capabilities to allow farmers to spread fertiliser.

“Not all farmers can afford fertiliser, but some can, and the new machines give them a better way to apply it.”

Weed-wise, the lack of summer rains means pre-planting spraying is not always necessary, although occasionally old season crop volunteers need to be controlled.

Dr Piggin said that similar to fertiliser inputs, some farmers could afford chemical herbicides and some could not.

Simple spray mixes are used to control broadleaf and grass weeds in-crop.

Dr Piggin said he was thrilled by the success of the initial uptake of no-till, but said it would be interesting to see how the farmers managed issues with pests, diseases and weeds in the new system over the coming years.

“It will raise some points that will be interesting for Australian farmers, to see how farmers can manage these pests.”

While the foremost concern for farmers is to produce enough for their families for the year, they are also trying to grow enough to sell back to the government-controlled wheat board.

With wheat worth $400/t, and barley just $120/t, wheat is the clear pick as a cash crop, but farmers regard barley as a safer option in dry areas.

He said, in spite of the differences, there were many similarities between northern Iraqi and Australian farmers.

“Both have climatic risk as their major issue, trying to grow a crop in dry conditions, both are looking to adapt to a new, drier situation.”

Dr Piggin said some farmers in the region formerly had access to irrigation water from the Tigris, to the extent that some even had centre point pivots, but this water entitlement had dwindled as water resources ran low.

He said he believed the conservation cropping project would go a long way towards improving Iraq’s food security.

“It’s only fairly simple stuff, but it is having such a big impact, it’s good for a sophisticated agricultural country such as Australia to give back to those in less developed areas.”