LONDON — The chief scientific advisor to the British government on Thursday called for a "new and greener revolution" in agriculture to combat a global food crisis.

Speaking at a science festival in Cheltenham, western England, on World Environment Day, Professor John Beddington said: "We have to look for something different in the new revolution" due to problems stemming from climate change.

He called for the wider use of fertilizers and irrigation and for the development of sophisticated pesticides which will not pose a health risk.

Britain's top scientist also said genetically modified foods had "a potential to help people. If we had drought-tolerant or disease-tolerant crops, and there was no risk to human health, it could help."

Food prices have doubled in three years, according to the World Bank, sparking riots in Egypt and Haiti and in many African nations. Brazil, Vietnam, India and Egypt have all imposed food export restrictions.

Prices have been rising due in part to increasing populations, greater demand from developing countries, the use of certain foods in the production of biofuels, as well as the adverse impacts of climate change.

A UN summit which closed earlier Thursday vowed to halve global hunger by 2015 and take "urgent" action over the global food crisis, with world leaders also agreeing to boost food production in poor countries. — AFP