(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-23 20:12

According to the crop research institute, one billion of the world's poorest are vulnerable to the impact of climate change on agriculture -- from desertification and land degradation to loss of biodiversity and water scarcity.

"Climate change will generally reduce production potential and increase the risk of hunger," said Martin Parry, co-chair of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore.

"Where crops are grown near their maximum temperature tolerance and where dry land, non-irrigated agriculture predominates, the challenge of climate change could be overwhelming, especially on subsistence farmers," he said.

Developed economies have systems in place to fight the stresses that the poor lack, posing the risk of wider disparities between the haves and have-nots.

Parry said researchers would have to concentrate on "drought-proofing" crops and developing heat-resistant varieties to cope with the problems, warning that the world was rapidly nearing its tolerance threshold for rising temperatures.

"The challenge will no longer be producing the maximum amounts of food but to meet the increasing variability of climate from time to time," he said.

Experts from 15 international agricultural research institutions are attending the three-day Hyderabad conference in the run-up to the Bali summit, demanding action by governments before it is too late.

"We continue to wait for crises to stimulate change," said Simon Best, chairman of the crop research institute. "We are already facing the beginning of a crisis, let's not wait longer."

But the precedent set by governments in developing alternative energy resources was "not particularly encouraging" for scientists, given that oil was inching towards US$100 a barrel and concerns on the energy front have been rife for decades, Best said.

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