Assessing the Potential of Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) to Enhance Agricultural Productivity in Iraq

3.1 Current status of farm management systems (FMIS) in Iraq

3.1.1 Adoption trends and patterns

As shown in Table 1, the adoption of different types of agricultural management information systems (FMIS) in Iraq between 2015 and 2022 shows that the adoption rate of basic farm record systems increased from 12.3% in 2015 to 42.3% in 2022. Despite showing significant growth from just 0.8% in 2015, by 2022, only 12.8% of farmers using farm record systems were relatively low in the adoption rate of more advanced systems with extensive FMI (multi-module integrated systems). This result is close to that found by Farooq et al. [11] in their study in Mardan District, Pakistan. This pattern suggests that as basic digitization gains momentum, there is significant potential for further integration of advanced FMIS solutions into Iraqi agriculture. The variation in adoption reflects the different complexities, costs, and perceived benefits of different FMIS types. Basic recordkeeping systems serve as an entry point into agricultural digitization for many farmers, while more complex systems face more adoption barriers.

3.2 Regional disparities in Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) adoption

Table 2 shows that the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq and the Greater Baghdad Area exhibit significantly higher adoption rates across all categories of financial management information systems compared to western and southern Iraq. For example, 53.8% of farmers in the Baghdad Area use the basic agricultural registration system, compared to only 28.7% in southern Iraq. Similarly, widespread financial management information system adoption ranges from 19.3% to 5.2% in southern Iraq, specifically in Baghdad. A similar study was conducted by Shandana and Khan [10] in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Three districts (Swat, Haripur, and Mardan) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were selected for this study, and the results were similar to ours. A notable feature of financial management information system adoption in Iraq is the significant regional disparities. These disparities can be attributed to several factors, including infrastructure development, educational level, size of the agricultural sector, and proximity to technological support services.

Table 2. Regional distribution of Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) adoption in Iraq (% of farmers), 2022

In this study, 'Central Iraq' is operationally defined to include the governorates of Babylon, Karbala, and Wasit, while the 'Baghdad region' exclusively covers the capital's agricultural periphery. These definitions follow the administrative areas of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning (2021).

Table 3 shows that the Internet coverage in rural areas increased from 21.5% in 2015 to 53.2% in 2022, but this improvement has not been equally distributed in all areas. Data shows that digital skill problems are important challenges in democratizing access to agricultural information systems in Iraq.

3.3 Evolution of Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) access platforms

The geographical scope of this study encompasses various agricultural regions across Iraq, as illustrated in Figure 1. These regions, including the Northern, Central, and Southern areas, represent diverse farming environments where the adoption of Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) is being evaluated. Table 4 shows a clear change from the desktop/PC-based system to mobile applications. In 2015, 62.3% of users of FMIS users mainly gained access to these systems via stationary computer, while only 21.5% of the mobile applications used. In 2022, the dramatic shift from 21.5% to 65.9% in mobile access is primarily due to the rapid expansion of 4G networks in rural Iraq and the relative affordability of smartphones compared to traditional desktop computers, which lack the mobility required for field-based farm management. The infection corresponds to a sufficient increase in the use of smartphones among farmers, which increased from 28.7% to 2022 to 67.5% in 2015 (Table 3). Preference for mobile platforms reflects their greater access, convenience and adaptation with the daily operational context of agriculture. This change has significant implications for FMIS developers and agricultural expansion services, which suggests that the mobile-first approach is likely to have more entry into the Iraqi agricultural context. The platforms that farmers use FMI has made a remarkable change in the study period. In the same context, Naik et al. [16] conducted a study in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh during the 2017–2018 academic year, and the results were similar.

Figure 1. Map of Iraq showing the studied agricultural regions (Baghdad, Central, Northern, Western, and Southern)

Table 3. Development of the internet and mobile infrastructure, as well as platform use trends between Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) users in Iraq (2015–2022)

Source: Calculated from World Bank [15], International Telecommunication Union (ITU) [17], and Iraqi Ministry of Planning, Central Statistical Organization [12].

3.4 Impact of Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) on agricultural productivity in Iraq

3.4.1 Productivity differences between FMIS users and non-users

Table 5 shows that in all larger crops, FMIS users get continuous high returns. For wheat, the 34.9% yield gap in 2022 represents a cumulative 'learning-by-doing' effect. Data indicates this gap has widened from 30.2% in 2020, suggesting that long-term FMIS users are optimizing resource application (water and fertilizer) more effectively than those who rely on traditional methods. Similar trends are seen for other crops, where the productivity difference varies from about 28% to 35%. These differences are statistically important and suggest that using FMI is associated with sufficient productivity benefits in Iraqi agriculture. The increasing size of productivity differences over time may indicate the effect of coercive learning, making farmers more proficient in using these systems to inform their decisions because they gain experience with them. However, these results indicate the correlation rather than a certain reason, as controlled studies were not done. it’s One of the most compelling conclusions from data analysis is the sufficient productivity difference between farmers who use FMI and those who do not. A team of researchers, Kumar et al. [19], made extensive use of information technology at the farm level and the results were satisfactory in terms of optimal handling of information technology and its significant impact on the farms and farmers.

3.5 Resource use efficiency improvements

Table 6 shows that water use efficiency in 2022 improved by 25.7% compared to traditional management methods. Similar improvements were observed in fertilizer use (23.5%), pesticide use (21.4%), and land use adaptation (21.3%). The data are consistent with those found in the review of Papadopoulos et al. [21]. These efficiency gains are particularly important in the Iraqi context, where water level volatility, soil degradation, and production start-up costs pose significant challenges to agricultural stability. Statistics indicate that agricultural management information systems (FMIS) can simultaneously increase productivity and play a crucial role in promoting more sustainable farming practices, enabling farmers to "produce more with less." In addition to increasing raw material productivity, the adoption of FMIS has led to a significant improvement in resource use efficiency.

3.6 Information access and agricultural decision-making

Table 7 provides insight into how FMI can affect productivity. Access to the weather forecast increased from 24.3% in 2015 to 67.5% in 2022, while the use of the market price in the same period increased from 18.5% to 59.8%. The range of the Technical Agriculture Council increased by about five times from 9.3% to 48.5%. It contributes to better decision -making on better information such as planting time, entry application, autumn planning and market engagement. Data suggests that FMIS plays an important role because information links the connection to important knowledge resources, which enables more informed and timely agricultural decisions. Increase in farmers' access to different types of agricultural information through digital channels. The results were similar to those obtained by Patel and Mallappa [22] in a study conducted in the Gandhinagar district of Gujarat to assess farmers' knowledge of social media in 2021.

Table 6. The effect of FMI (% improvement) on form resource management in Iraq (2020–2022)

Source: Calculated from World Bank [20] and Ministry of Water Resources, Iraq [23].

Table 7. Access to agricultural information through digital channels in Iraq (% of farmers), (2015–2022)

Source: Calculated from FAO [13] and Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture [12].

3.7 Challenges and obstacles to the adoption of FMI in Iraq

3.7.1 Basic structure and technical barriers

Table 8 indicates that the poor Internet infrastructure is most often cited the challenge (78.5% farmers), limited technical skills (72.3%) and a high cost of hardware and software (65.7%). These findings match the data of Table 3, which shows that internet coverage in rural areas has improved, they have still reached only 53.2% by 2022. Despite the encouraging increase in the FMIS adoption, important challenges remain. This is what was found by the study conducted in three districts, namely Newai, Malpura and Deoli, of Tonk District, and five villages from each district. The study revealed weak response of farmers to technology, lack of communication, difficulty in language difference and other difficulties including: lack of awareness about the proper functioning of ICT tools (69.33%), lack of training of farmers on the use of different ICT tools (68.00%), insufficient internet supply (67.33%), lack of continuous power supply (66.00%), difficulty in understanding the language of ICT tools content (66.67%), lack of local language to deal with and understand the software (66.67%), poor mobile/internet connectivity in rural areas (66.00%), in addition to some other constraints that the farmers also faced Mahajan and Mahajan [24].

Table 8. Major challenges with FMI's adoption in Iraq (2022)

Source: Calculated from Central Statistical Organization of Iraq [14] and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [13].

Table 9 suggests that challenges are not evenly distributed across the sizes of the farms. Reporting of early investment costs (such as a significant obstacle) and digital reading skills (81.7%) face many more obstacles when it comes to initial investment costs (83.5%) and digital literacy (81.7%) compared to small farms (5 hectares) respectively. This suggests that without targeted interventions, the adoption of FMI can increase existing differences between large and small agricultural producers. The results were similar to what Patel and HM [25] had concluded. Smallholders face significant barriers as high initial implementation costs (83.5%) cannot be easily repaid on small land holdings. Furthermore, a lack of security prevents these farmers from accessing digital transformation loans, unlike larger commercial farms that benefit from economies of scale.

Table 9. Challenges to Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) implementation in different agricultural categories (% reporting as significant obstacles) in Iraq (2022)

Source: Calculated from Iraqi Agricultural Research Center [26] and FAO [13].

3.8 Cultural and educational factors

Table 8 also states that 61.2% of farmers cited the lack of Arabic language FMIS solutions as an obstacle, while 59.8% indicated low awareness of FMIS benefits. These figures indicate important cultural and educational dimensions of the challenge of adoption. Many internationally developed FMI solutions are not sufficiently localized for the Iraqi context, when it comes to adapting both language and local agricultural practices and conditions.

The data in Table 10 shows a gradual change to locally developed solutions, with the Iraqi software market's ownership interest in 2015 to 45.8% in 2022. This trend suggests a prominent responsibility for the requirements for references and users’ solutions that are better adapted to local agricultural systems, language settings and user functions. This is consistent with what was reported in a study in Nigeria [27].

Source: Calculated from Iraqi ICT Market Research Council [28] and Ministry of Science and Technology Iraq [29].

3.9 Farm size and Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) usage patterns

Table 11 analysis of FMIS use frequency reveals interesting patterns that can have implications for use strategies. The daily use of FMI among adopters has increased from 12.3% in 2018 to 34.5% in 2022, which over time suggests the intensive integration of these systems in agricultural management practices. At the same time, the percentage of farmers who use FMI is compared to a monthly 8.2% to 1.2% decree SED. When combined with a farm size analysis in Table 9, these patterns suggest that successful FMIS adoption not only requires initial recording but also requires continuous commitment and integration into regular farm management practices. Small farms face several challenges in achieving this level of integration, which potentially limits the benefits they receive when adopting FMIs. In the same context, what was stated in the research conducted by Khodifad and Solanki [30].

3.10 Public and private investment trends

Table 12 shows the continuous increase in investment in agricultural information systems in Iraq, which has increased from a total of \$ 8.8 million in 2015 to \$ 43.1 million in 2022. It represents an increase of about five times in seven years. International development assistance has been the largest continuous source of investment, although the authorities have shown the most dramatic relative growth (\$ 2.3 million to \$ 14.6 million). Investments in the private sector in 2015, which started with a low base of \$ 0.7 million, have increased to the fastest to reach \$ 10.3 million in 2022. This suggests increasing commercial capacity for agricultural information systems in Iraq. However, the constant dominance of public and international sources of funding indicates that FMIS development in Iraq is very dependent on the auxiliary mechanism that is not the market. The results were similar to those obtained by Shanmuka et al. [31] in a study in Andhra Pradesh, a state that revolutionized information technology, using a random sampling method on a sample of 126 farmers from three districts.

Table 11. Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) uses frequency among adopters in Iraq (% of FMIS users), (2018–2022)

Source: Calculated from Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture [12] and FAO [13].

Source: Calculated from World Bank [20] and Ministry of Finance Iraq [32].

3.11 Agricultural production trends and farm management information adoption

3.11.1 FMIS relationship between adoption and production versions

Tables 13 and 14 together with FMIS adoption data reveals interesting relationships between using information system and the trend of agricultural production. The total cultivated area in Iraq came up between 2015 and 2022, reaching the peak of 2,792,000 hectares in 2020 before it decreased by 2,590,000 hectares in 2022. However, the production versions for most crops showed more consistent growth, which suggests productivity improvement rather than expanded farms. For example, wheat production increased from 3,150,000 tons in 2015 to 3,850,000 tons in 2022, despite an increase of only 9.6% in agriculture for wheat in the same period. These benefits in land productivity coincide with a rapid FMIS adoption period suggest a possible causal relationship that warns further investigation. In this regard, in a similar study in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, India, intensive use of information technology at the farm level for technology transfer was promoted by Naik et al. [33] and was remarkably close to our results.

3.12 Crop-specific Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) benefits

Productivity difference in Table 6 indicates that FMIS gains are not the same in crop types. While all major crops show sufficient productivity benefits for FMIS users, the magnitude varies from crop to crop. High prices Horticulture crops such as tomatoes and potatoes show particularly strong productivity differences (31.1% and 32.8% respectively in 2022). This can reflect the intensity and time sensitivity of more control over decisions for these crops, which potentially improves the benefits of better information access and management equipment. FMIs in these crop-specific differences have important implications for promotional strategies, suggesting that the high value, initial targeting of management-intensive crops can lead to the most visual benefits and thus accelerate widespread adoption through performance effects.