ABSTRACT
It is self-evident that the current level of food security that has existed in many countries in Asia, particularly in south Asia (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and in China since the mid 1970s, and to some extent in Central Asia since the mid 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union (Uzbekistan for example) has been the result of increased production of staple food crops like wheat, rice and maize from irrigated lands. The remarkable increase in food production from irrigated land when combined with well-managed and well-fertilized, high-yielding modern cultivars has provided a stark contrast to the persistent threat of famine that was common in many developing countries before the early 1970s.
