Janajah, Iraq   -   Bare feet pressed against the rough trunk of a palm tree, his back supported by a metal and fabric harness, Ali Abed begins the climb to the dates above. In Iraq, the date palm and its bounty are national icons, but they are being battered by drought.

Once known as the country of “30 million palm trees”, Iraq’s ancient date-growing culture had already suffered from upheaval, especially during the 1980-88 war with Iran, before climate change became a major threat. In the still lush countryside of central Iraq, near Janajah village in Babylon province, hundreds of date palms stand tall and majestic, surrounded by vines and fruit trees.

During harvest season, the branches are heavy with clusters of yellow and red dates.

Rising at dawn to avoid the searing heat, harvesters climb the palms using only their upper body strength, aided by a harness and rope wrapped around the trunk.

“Last year, the orchards and the palm groves were thirsty; we almost lost them. This year, thanks to God, we had good water and a good harvest,” said Abed, a 36-year-old farmer from Biramana, a village a few kilometres (miles) from Janajah.

Once at the top, they pick the ripe dates, filling baskets that are lowered to the ground and emptied into basins, which are then loaded onto lorries. Abed noted, however, that the harvest is much smaller now -- about half of what it used to be. He once collected more than 12 tonnes but now brings in just four or five.

Abed criticised the lack of government support, saying aerial insecticide campaigns are not enough.