Sri Lanka's political move to become the world's first 100% organic food producer is threatening the tea industry and causing serious alarm among growers of other crops. Tea exports bring in more than $1.25bn to the island nation's treasury each year.

The country's president has banned chemical fertilisers as part of the ongoing shift towards organic farming, while tea plantation owners are anticipating a drop in yields as early as October, warning that a similar situation may occur with harvests of cinnamon, pepper and fibre crops, such as rice.