The project leader for the third phase of the project joined ICARDA in July 2012, and a project instigation meeting was conducted in Amman where the previous progress was reviewed, objectives discussed, and a comprehensive work plan developed. In the autumn of 2012, 29 zero-tillage (ZT) demonstrations were established in farmer fields throughout the Ninevah governorate in Iraq, and for the first time two or three demonstrations were sown in Kirkuk, Salahaddin and Anbar. Three major spring field days were held at Singar, Alqush and Telkief, which were attended by a total of 100 farmers and 50 staff – other smaller field walks were also conducted at other demonstration sites. A brief inventory of farmers in Ninevah indicated the area of conservation cropping continues to grow from 7,800ha last season to 10,800ha in 2012/13. In May, 25 new extensionists were appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture in Ninevah who will specialise on working with farmers to promote conservation cropping. While it was not possible to contact all conservation cropping farmer groups established in Syria during the previous phase of the project, many are continuing to operate despite the civil unrest. Fuel shortages restricted farming operations. However, this is proving to be a driver of adoption. In one case, a farmer stated that he was able to sow four times the area of crop with his ZT seeder compared to conventional methods requiring plowing because of a limited supply of fuel.