London, 28 April-(ANA)-Food riots are a real threat in some developing and emerging countries unless funds for agricultural research are increased, says a UK scientist.
Prof Douglas Kell says investment in the UK alone needs to be increased by £100m if farmers are to produce sufficient food to meet global demand.
Prof Kell leads the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
He envisages further unrest if there is not a major effort to develop agricultural science.
"This makes it sound rather dramatic but if I have to choose between 'yes' and 'no' - the answer is 'yes'".
Professor Kell's warning follows a statement made by the UK government's chief scientific adviser, Professor John Beddington, in which he said that demand for food and energy would jump 50% by 2030 as the population topped 8.3 billion.
Changing temperatures and rainfall patterns resulting from climate change would mean that farmers had to grow different, possibly completely new, varieties of crops, he argued.
He also warned that a changing climate could lead many crop-eating insects to migrate. At present, 30-40% of all crops are lost due to pest and disease before they are harvested. (ANA)
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