KAWHMU (Myanmar) — Under monsoon skies leaden with rain, Myanmar rice farmers despondently tend their paddy fields, doubtful the deluge will bring bountiful harvests during a fuel and fertiliser crisis caused by the Iran war.

“If prices continue to rise, I will be a beggar,” says veteran farmer Soe Naing, perched on a sack of rice seed overlooking his 30 acres (12 hectares) of rented land outside the delta town of Kawhmu.

“I may give up working as a farmer, but growing rice is my calling,” the 49-year-old told AFP between thunderous sheets of rain heralding the start of planting season across Myanmar’s riverine south.

The US-Iran war continues to send supply shocks worldwide, even as a fragile ceasefire holds.

Conflict closing the Strait of Hormuz has been particularly damaging to Asia, the destination for 80 per cent of oil transiting the seaway, according to the International Energy Agency.

Myanmar, already gripped by a humanitarian crisis amidst its civil war, is vulnerable further still.

The South-east Asian nation imports 90 per cent of its fuel oil, according to official figures.

burnt to synthesise ammonia — is also imported, according to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).

Spiking prices of both commodities have left Myanmar farmers struggling to fuel rotavators needed to till fields or buy fertiliser to boost their seedlings at a crucial time in the agricultural calendar.

The WFP warns a 50 per cent drop in fertiliser use could result in farming output dipping up to 15 per cent in Myanmar, where food insecurity is already widespread.

“The current situation is the most difficult time we have faced,” said Soe Naing. “As for my hope, I have nothing other than my fields.”