In Syria, a poor wheat harvest adds to food worries

Workers carry a sack of hay to load it into a truck at a field in Qamishli countryside, in northeastern Syria June 30, 2022. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

QAMISHLI, Syria (Reuters) - Poor rainfall, fuel shortages, soaring fertilizer prices: it's been a bad year for farmers in northeastern Syria where a disappointing wheat crop looks set to deal another blow to food supplies in a country grappling with climate change and war.

Farmer Mohamed Hussein said he planted around a fifth of the area he would usually cultivate this season because of difficulties which have been compounded by rising global fertilizer prices - a side effect of the Ukraine war.