Temporal NDVI Trends and Productivity of Cereal Crops in Al-Anbar Governorate

The study area covered Al-Anbar governorate, specifically in the district of Ameriyat Al-Sumoud, Iraq, Plot 21/Al-Shamiya. The objective was to assess temporal variability using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and to evaluate the productivity potential of strategically cultivated cereal crops. A variation in the NDVI was observed based on the classification and interpretation of the index across the three reference years of 2005, 2015, and 2025. The results for the five NDVI classes showed the highest value for the "barren land" class in 2005 (71.44%), while the "severely degraded" (34.85%), "moderately degraded" (5.63%), "mildly degraded" (9.01%), and "not degraded" (9.81%) classes recorded their highest increases during 2025. The study indicates that vegetation class in 2025 was predominantly of high quality, covering 58.55% of the total study site area. Regarding land productivity potential, the “excellent” class increased in particular soil series, specifically DW85, DW46, and MW7, and represented 33.42% of the study area covering a total of 18,949.35 ha