The interruption to supplies of fertiliser and its key ingredients due to the war in Iran could cost up to ten billion meals a week globally and will hit poorest countries hardest, according to the boss of one of the world's biggest fertiliser producers, BBC reported. 

Svein Tore Holsether, chief executive of Yara, told the BBC that hostilities in the Gulf, which have blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, are jeopardising global food production.

Reduced crop yields as a result of lower fertiliser use could lead to a bidding war for food, he warned.

He urged European nations to consider carefully the impact of a price war on the "most vulnerable" in other countries, according to BBC.