A water crisis
could lie ahead for Asian
nations, says a report by the
Manila-based International
Rice Research Institute. The
shortage of water could have
twin effects: a severe shortfall
in rice production and a possible social conflict as competition hots up among
industries, urban consumers
and farmers in Asia for
dwindling supplies ofwater.
New varieties of rice -
once hailed as the great new
hope of Asia - may not be
able to bail out the continent
from the crisis. The future
seems to lie with the development of techniques that
produce more rice with
less water. "In the future,
conflicting demands will
increasingly be felt between
the need for safe drinking
water, sanitation and industrial activities, particularly in
fast-growing urban centres, 11
says the report. Asian coun-
tries have tried to find their
own answers to such varying
demands. The two most
populous countries in east
Asia - China and Indonesia
- are planning measures to
slow the conversion of productive agricultural land to
industrial and urban use.
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