The Master's thesis in the Department of Geography/College of Education for Human Sciences/University of Basra examined (obstacles to agricultural development in Shatt Al-Arab District) by student Iman Abdul-Hussein Hassan. The study dealt with the obstacles to agricultural development in the Shatt al-Arab district, the aim of which is to identify the obstacles that impede the development of agricultural lands, represented by the high salinity of agricultural lands, high salt concentrations in the water of rivers and sub-streams, low investment in the agricultural sector, lack of government support and high agricultural production inputs. The study included five chapters preceded by a general introduction that included the research problem, the research hypothesis, the importance of the research, the research objective, the spatial boundaries of the study area, the statistical methods used, the methods and sources that were followed in the study, followed by a set of results and suggestions reached by the study, and then appendices and a list of sources and references. The study concluded a number of results, the most prominent of which was the existence of a discrepancy and a decrease in the area of cultivated land in the Shatt al-Arab district during the study period (2010-2020) due to the lack of farmers’ awareness of modern agricultural techniques, the weak role of agricultural associations and agricultural extension, and the weak government role represented in not enacting laws that limit the encroachment on land agriculture in the district.

