The World Bank said on Tuesday the rising food prices have pushed some 100 million people back into poverty, living below two U.S. dollars per day, and the fallout from price rises have already sparked food riots in some coun tries.

Solutions, such as genetically modified crops, have been proposed to alleviate the global food crisis, but as World Bank Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub said, "there is no magic solution, though the modified crops could be considered as long as it doesn't create further price distortion."

"To increase the global food production is surely the long-term solution to the current crisis," said CBD Executive Secretary Djoghlaf, "but the agriculture biodiversity is definitely another parallel way to ensure a secure food supply."

"We do hope that more and more research institutes will join us in the research for further commercial utilization of traditional food system, and more and more private sectors will realize the value of implementing agricultural biodiversity," added Baidu- Forson.

The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits from utilization of genetic resources.

The Biodiversity International is the world's largest international organization dedicated solely to research on making the most of agricultural resources and their diversity for human well-being.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2008)