The Iran war has disrupted global fertilizer supplies, driving prices to multi-year highs and forcing farmers to seek alternatives. - About a third of traded urea comes from the Gulf region, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut.
- Farmers are turning to manure, urine-based products, and microbial solutions. - The UN warns 45 million more people may face acute food insecurity.
- Scaling up alternatives remains a major hurdle, with many farmers wary of unfamiliar products. The crisis is giving fresh momentum to bio-based fertilizers, but synthetic fertilizers remain difficult to replace at scale.