Sri Lanka faces looming food crisis with stunted rice crop

Nallathambi Mahendran, 67, a farmer, walks through his paddy field, amid the country's worst economic crisis, in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka July 28, 2022. REUTERS/ Devjyot Ghoshal

KILINOCHCHI/COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Nallathambi Mahendran walked through his four acres of emerald green paddy fields in northern Sri Lanka's Kilinochchi district, indicating the height the plants should have reached by now. They were several feet short.

The standing paddy crop across most of this major rice growing belt is stunted for the second successive season because of the lack of fertiliser, according to farmers, a union leader and local government officials.