Iran war is crushing Asia's farmers, threatening global food supply

"Saithong Jamjai has just finished harvesting the rice on the 19 hectares of farmland she owns in central Thailand and now is the time to sow again. But she won't, she said, because of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. She has gone over the math for weeks. Because of surging prices, driven by the war, of fuel, fertilizer, plastics and other necessities, planting and harvesting will cost her at least $33,000, she said. The grain that she'll produce, she estimates, will sell in August for only $22,000."

"The standoff between President Donald Trump and Iran that has brought shipping to a virtual halt in the Persian Gulf has set off supply chain shocks that are upending lives thousands of miles away in Asia, raising costs for farmers at the start of key planting seasons that will sharply reduce crop yields in the second half of the year and beyond, according to government officials, economists and farming groups."

"Addressing world leaders in Rome on Thursday, Dongyu Qu, the director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, said the war had created not only a geopolitical crisis but "a disruption at the core of the global agrifood system." Iran's destruction of gas infrastructure in the Gulf and the dueling U.S.-Iran efforts to choke the Strait of Hormuz have prevented crucial supplies of fuel and its derivatives like urea - a potent source of nitrogen that enhances harvests - from leaving the Middle East."

"In effect, 30 percent of the world's urea has been "wiped out," said Pranshi Goyal, senior analyst at the market intelligence firm CRU Group. China, a major fertilizer producer, has restricted ex"

A U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran has halted shipping in the Persian Gulf, triggering supply chain shocks across Asia. Farmers in central Thailand face sharply higher costs for fuel, fertilizer, plastics, and other necessities during key planting seasons. One farmer calculated planting and harvesting costs of at least $33,000 against expected grain sales of about $22,000, concluding the season would be a confirmed loss and choosing not to sow. Officials, economists, and farming groups warn that these conditions will reduce crop yields in the second half of the year and beyond. The conflict has disrupted fuel and fertilizer flows, including urea, because infrastructure damage and efforts to choke the Strait of Hormuz prevent supplies from leaving the Middle East.

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