Stockholm, Aug 18 (DPA) Asia needs to improve irrigation and introduce water reform to feed growing populations in the coming decades, a new study said Tuesday.

The population in Asia is projected to increase by 1.5 billion people by 2050.

Without necessary reforms, many Asian nations 'face the politically risky prospect of having to import more than a quarter of the rice, wheat and maize they will need by 2050', the joint report from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

'Asia's food and feed demand is expected to double by 2050. Relying on trade to meet a large part of this demand will impose a huge and politically untenable burden on the economies of many developing countries,' IWMI director general Colin Chartres said in a statement.