Agricultural land for graduates in Iraq: lease, obligations and ownership of the disposal right after ten years

In briefLaw No. 24 of 2013 allows agriculture and veterinary graduates not employed by the state to lease unoccupied agricultural land through auction via the agriculture directorate, up to fifty dunums, with obligations to farm it using modern methods. The lessee acquires the disposal right without charge after ten years if the land was used for its purpose and the lessee is Iraqi. The contract may be rescinded for breach or in the public interest with compensation, and a grievance may be filed within thirty days.

The state holds large areas of unoccupied agricultural land, and graduates of agriculture and veterinary colleges ask: how do we get land to farm, and when does it become ours? Law No. 24 of 2013, amended by Law No. 16 of 2024, sets out that route. The office of lawyer Ali Barakat in Baghdad explains its steps here as they appear in the law and its instructions.

The basis: the state grants amiri land

Article 1183 of the Civil Code confirms that the state may grant amiri land to individuals under the applicable laws and regulations, and Law No. 24 of 2013 is one of those laws. Article 1186 allows an Iraqi, with government permission, to take dead land in areas where the law allows it and acquire the disposal right by reclaiming it, unless the land is left unploughed and uncultivated for three consecutive years without excuse, in which case it is taken back.

Who the law covers

The first article, as replaced by Law No. 16 of 2024, covers graduates of agriculture and veterinary colleges, animal health institutes, agricultural departments of technical institutes, and agricultural secondary schools who are not employed by the state or the public sector and wish to set up crop or livestock projects using modern methods. Its second paragraph excludes land covered by the Property Claims Commission Law.

Application and auction

The first article of the 2015 instructions provides that lease applications are filed with the agriculture directorates of the region or province. Under the second article, the directorates prepare land, fix its locations and announce it in a public auction; the committee under article 4 of the law examines the applications, which are then put to the Ministry of Agriculture for final approvals to conclude the contract and hand over the land under a formal handover record.

Area and financing

Paragraph one of article 3 of the law allows the Minister of Agriculture to lease up to fifty dunums to eligible persons.
Under paragraph two, the Agricultural Cooperative Bank, in coordination with the ministry, provides lessees with the advances needed for their projects under its lending rules.
Under paragraph four, the lessee is exempt from rent for the first and second years.
Law No. 16 of 2024 added a paragraph obliging the Ministry of Water Resources to provide a water share or grant a well licence.

The lessee's obligations

Under paragraph three of article 3, the lessee must take delivery of the land within three months of the contract, failing which the contract is treated as rescinded; use it for the purpose it was leased for; apply modern scientific methods; and not damage it. The third article of the instructions adds allowing competent officials to enter for monitoring, and maintaining the land's productivity and its irrigation and drainage networks.

Rescission and withdrawal

Article 5 allows the minister to rescind the contract and withdraw the land if an investigation proves the lessee breached obligations, or where the public interest requires, with the committee assessing compensation for buildings and plantings at their assessed standing value. If the lessee dies during the contract, the minister or a delegate may, under paragraph three of the same article as replaced by Law No. 16 of 2024, approve the heirs assigning the land to others if they cannot manage it; otherwise the contract is rescinded and they are compensated for buildings and plantings at standing value. Article 6 allows a grievance within thirty days of notification.

Ownership after ten years

Article 7 provides that the lessee acquires the disposal right when three conditions are met: ten years have passed since the contract; the lessee has used the land for its purpose with modern scientific methods, without breaching obligations and while applying the agricultural plan; and the lessee holds Iraqi nationality. The transfer is without charge. Article 8 extends this to full-time farmers leasing land under the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council decisions No. 350 of 1985 and No. 122 of 1986.

Legal basis and sources

Frequently asked questions

I am an agriculture graduate employed by a government department. Does the law cover me?

The first article requires the graduate not to be employed by the state or the public sector.

What is the maximum area that can be leased?

Fifty dunums under paragraph one of article 3.

When does the land become mine?

Ten years after the contract, if you used it for its purpose and are Iraqi, without charge, under article 7.

What happens if I do not take delivery of the land after the contract?

The contract is treated as rescinded if the land is not taken within three months, under paragraph three of article 3.

Always check the text in force and its amendments in the official source.

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Reclaiming state agricultural land and its transfer to graduates under Law No. 24 of 2013