'World food production must double to feed Asia'

However the potential for expanding arable land in Asia was limited and "future expansion in food production must come largely from land already in use," said Norman Borlaug, who won the 1970 Nobel peace prize for his role in expanding agricultural production.

"Africa is the biggest food security challenge although hunger is still extensive in Asia and among indigenous people in Latin America," he told the conference at ADB headquarters in Manila.

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This is compounded by the limited water resources and the emergence of new crop diseases, Borlaug said, citing a new form of "stem rust" affecting wheat, reported in East Africa in 1999.

"It is only a matter of time before it spreads to Asia," he said, calling for a revival of the international research system to deal with such diseases.

The demand for food, animal feed and fibres in China was likely to double by the middle of the century as the population became larger and wealthier, he said.

Arable land, however, was likely to shrink by 20 percent, he said.

Agriculture in India must also undergo "a major transformation" with changes in cropping patterns and crop management systems, he said, calling for "precision farming practices ... in high potential areas," and efforts towards drought tolerance.

Borlaug called for a twin-track strategy emphasizing both productivity-led agricultural growth and "safety net programmes to assist the chronically hungry".