The Third Global Forum of Leaders for Agricultural Science and Technology (GLAST-2010) kicked off in Harbin on Thursday to address food security concerns amid rising grain prices and fluctuations in the world food market.

The three-day forum will focus on agricultural policy making and implementation, as well as agricultural science and technology and international cooperation on the sustainable development of agriculture.

"We are far away from achieving food security," Anton Mangstl, director of FAO's Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension Office, told the opening ceremony held in this capital city of Heilongjiang.

He called for more government investment in agriculture and scientific research and strengthened international cooperation.

"No country could achieve food security alone. All countries must work together to combat challenges," said Luo Fuhe, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Governments should reinforce cooperation in strategy and policy making and increase investment and support to agricultural science and technology, Luo said.

They should also promote technological progress and use of new techniques, and encourage international personnel exchanges so to increase national and world food security, Luo said.

The forum attracted more than 500 agricultural officials and experts from nearly 80 countries and regions, including the United States, France, Canada and Russia

It is jointly sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the government of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2010)