The conflict in Syria has halved grains production, besides destroying many poultry farms and threatening livestock herds with starvation, the United Nations said.

Syria's agriculture sector has been left "in tatters" by the civil war, now nearly two years old, between rebels and the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a mission to the country by the UN's food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, found.

The FAO delegates found that poultry production, a source of cheap animal protein "has been severely hit", with "many farms destroyed" in the conflict areas of Homs, Hama and Idleb.

The unrest has also prevented the movement of livestock to grazing areas, and animals' "survival is compromised by the lack of animal feed", besides a shortage of veterinary drugs, the importation of which is hampered by sanctions.

Harvest halves

In cereals, the FAO estimated Syria's combined barley and wheat crop – the great majority of cereals production - last year at less than 2m tonnes.

"Only 45% of farmers were able to fully harvest their cereal crops," with one-in-seven growers unable to harvest at all "due to insecurity and lack of fuel".The lack of fuel, combined with damage to water channels, has also cut farmers' ability to irrigate crops.

The estimate for the barley and wheat harvests compares with a December forecast by the FAO of more than 3m tonnes, and is less than half the 4.0m-4.5m tonnes of the cereals that Syrian farmers would reap in a normal year.

The US Department of Agriculture, whose grains estimates are particularly closely watched by investors, pegs last year's wheat harvest at 3.7m tones, and barley production at 800,000 tonnes.

Import requirements

The latest FAO estimates imply a need for significant grain imports by Syria, which typically consumes some 4.5m tonnes of wheat a year, and 1.0m tonnes of barley.

However, while wheat and other foods are excluded from Western trade sanctions imposed on the country because of the government's heavy-handed suppression of the uprising, curbs on banking transactions have acted to deter international traders from participating in Syrian tenders.

This has meant Syrian buyers purchasing grain through intermediaries, in Asia and the Middle East, often at higher prices than other imports pay.

Last month, Syria's grains agency paid about $408 a tonne, including freight, for milling wheat, thought sourced from the Black Sea.

Egypt paid some $50 a tonne less, including shipping, the same day, albeit for US soft red winter wheat, potentially of a lower spec than the bread-making grain purchased by Syria.

Syria has also made purchases of 100,000 tonnes of wheat in November, and twice in October, plus a 50,000-tonne order in September.

It is also known to have imported at least 25,000 tonnes of French barley earlier this month.