Sri Lanka Faces Food Crisis as Farmers Abandon Their Fields Due to the Scarcity of Seeds and Fertilizers

Daranagama, a 70-year-old rice farmer, considers the past year to be one of the most difficult of his life. Daranagama has barely touched his four-acre field this season, as Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

Without access to fertilizer, he and other farmers expect crop yields to plummet, threatening food supplies across a country already on the verge of collapse. "I don't know what the harvest will be," Daranagama, a rice farmer in Gampaha's coastal district, said. "I've never seen anything like this."

In Sri Lanka, a teardrop-shaped island south of India, fears of a hunger crisis are growing. Flour and milk powder are frequently in short supply. Food inflation is currently around 60%.

The agriculture sector has suffered greatly as a result of Sri Lanka's economic meltdown, the worst since the country's independence from the British in 1948. "I don't know what the harvest will be," Daranagama, a rice farmer in Gampaha's coastal district, said. "I've never seen anything like this."

In Sri Lanka, a teardrop-shaped island south of India, fears of a hunger crisis are growing. Flour and milk powder are frequently in short supply. 

Food inflation is currently around 60%. Due to exorbitant costs, many farmers, including Daranagama, have abandoned rice cultivation entirely this season. It's a frightening turn of events for a middle-income country that once had no trouble feeding a population of 22 million people.

The agriculture sector has suffered greatly as a result of Sri Lanka's economic meltdown, the worst since the country's independence from the British in 1948. 

Rice production had already dropped by 40% to 50% during the previous harvest season. According to Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, seed and fertilizer scarcity could reduce crop yields by up to 50% this year.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has notified that combating hunger will be one of Sri Lanka's most difficult challenges in the coming months, prompting those with the means to begin stockpiling supplies. According to the United Nations, nearly a quarter of the population already requires food assistance.