* Gulf states are around 90% reliant on imports for food

* Gulf began foreign farming in response to 2008 food

crisis

* Hormuz strait disruptions hinder ports like Jebel Ali

* Ships crowding in waters off Fujairah

By Sarah El Safty and Maha El Dahan

DUBAI, March 5 (Reuters) - Wealthy Gulf states are

facing their biggest food security challenge since the 2008

global food crisis, as the Iran conflict threatens ports and

disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The war is testing strategies adopted after 2008, when

soaring food prices prompted Gulf nations to shift toward

import-dependent policies reliant on pouring cash into

agricultural investments abroad.

That strategy did away with prior expensive programmes that

sought to raise domestic production of strategic grains but ran

up against the region's brutal climate and lack of water. Saudi

Arabia, for example, began to scale back a domestic

wheat-growing programme in 2008 to become almost exclusively

reliant on imports.

Now with global shipping disrupted and airspace closed in

many countries in a region that is 80%-90% dependent on food

imports, price surges and scarcity of some goods are expected.

"With over 70% of GCC foodstuffs being imported through the

Strait of Hormuz, Gulf states face shortages if the war

persists," said Neil Quilliam, associate fellow at think tank

Chatham House.

"While GCC countries have taken steps to diversify suppliers

and ensure sufficient stores to withstand disruption, this can

only last several months. At this point, price increases and

longer lead times will start to hit the markets."

HORMUZ CHOKE POINT

Analysts warn that even temporary blockages in Hormuz that

force rerouting from major ports to smaller ones will create

strains.

Most major Gulf ports, including Dubai's Jebel Ali and

primary ports in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the Saudi Gulf

coast, are located where most incoming traffic would have to

pass through the Hormuz waterway.

Iranian attacks struck many of those lifelines including

Jebel Ali, the region's largest container port, this week,

suspending operations for hours.

"The biggest immediate effect will be due to the blockade of

Jebel Ali, serving about 50 million people," Ishan Bhanu, lead

agricultural commodities analyst at Kpler, said about the Dubai

port that also serves as a re-export hub to the region and

beyond.

UAE ports outside the strait have limited capacity.

Khorfakkan can handle 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units

(TEUs) and Fujairah less than 1 million and would be hard-placed

to make up for capacity lost at Jebel Ali or Abu Dhabi's Khalifa

Port.

"Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq effectively become

landlocked and will depend on overland routes through Saudi

Arabia," Bhanu added, warning of costly congestion.

'CRAZY' PRICE SPIKE ON BANANAS, OTHER PERISHABLES

Those bottlenecks are yet to show and the UAE has said its

strategic reserves of vital goods cover four to six months of

needs. It urged residents to report unjustified price increases

through a dedicated hotline.

Supermarket staff told Reuters shelves remain largely

stocked, though suppliers are taking longer to replenish certain

products. Dubai this week temporarily relaxed truck-movement

restrictions to maintain the flow of goods.

The start of Iran's strikes on the Gulf on Saturday prompted

many to hoard and caused a temporary dip that further fueled

panic, a dry run for what could come.

"It is worth noting that perception risk matters and even if

stocks are sufficient now, public runs on supermarkets can spook

the public," Quilliam said.

A few residents already noticed some price rises.

"Is it just me whose groceries cost three times as of

yesterday?" one shopper wrote in a local Facebook group on

Tuesday. "Even the bananas cost have gone crazy."

Goods like bananas that spoil quickly are particularly

vulnerable to any shipping rerouting that makes journeys longer.

Flying in perishable food when airspace opens to cut the journey

will raise prices.

"If food is flown in or brought in overland, that is going

to be more expensive than shipping," said Justin Alexander, Gulf

analyst at GlobalSource Partners and director at Khalij

Economics.

"It may be that governments choose to absorb some of that

cost through subsidizing the food. And they've certainly done

that in previous crises."

GULF COOPERATION

Apart from investing abroad to secure access to major food

production bases, Gulf states have also been constructing modern

silos capable of storing hundreds of thousands of tons of

strategic grains in the past two decades. These silos offer a

buffer for staples that can be stored for months like wheat,

rice and edible oils.

The UAE opened its Fujairah grain silos in 2016 on the

Indian Ocean coast outside the Strait of Hormuz, with roughly

300,000 metric ton capacity. The location was chosen

strategically to bypass Hormuz with Iran having already

threatened to close the strait whenever tensions rose with the

West.

"Fujairah's grain silos act as a strategically important

pressure valve providing routing flexibility and risk

diversification when the Gulf's maritime environment tightens,"

said Sudhakar Tomar, president of India Middle East Agri

Alliance Ecosystem.

The initiative originally envisioned emergency stocks to be

shared by the entire Gulf region. But practical obstacles,

including long distances and limited road or rail links between

countries, meant it stayed domestic. Other Gulf states have

since built their own storage, including Qatar's Food Security

Terminal at Hamad Port with 51 climate-controlled silos.

Regional cooperation among Gulf Cooperation Council members

will be critical to averting food shortages, but the six-nation

bloc has long struggled with coordination.

"It will require close cooperation amongst GCC states to

manage complex logistics and ensure that all six states and Iraq

are sated," Quilliam said.