remained stable—288 million ha in 2005. However, cereal production increased threefold from 1961 to 2005, with a 2.7% annual growth rate (Figure 2-5). Among the cereal crops, paddy rice accounted for about 55% in 2005, fol­lowed by wheat 22%, and maize 19%. Among the ESAP countries, Australia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Pakistan, Phil­ippines and Viet Nam experienced rapid growth in cereal production. For example, China's cereal production had an annual growth rate of 3.1%, mainly driven by maize pro­duction the last 20 years in response to the increased de­mand for animal feed.
     With relatively stable crop areas, the growth in cereal production has come from increases in crop yields (Figure 2-6). From 1961 to 2005, the yields of maize, paddy rice and wheat increased remarkably. The yields for maize were 4.16 tonnes ha-1, 4.16 tonnes rice ha-1 and 3.05 wheat tonnes ha-1  in 2005.  However,  agricultural performance varied substantially across countries. In maize production, Austra­lia, Bangladesh, China and New Zealand had the highest yields in 2005. Bangladesh had the highest annual growth

rate from 1961 to 2005, followed by the Republic of Korea. For paddy rice, Australia, China, Republic of Korea and Japan were the countries with the highest yields, while the small island countries had the lowest. Laos experienced the highest annual growth rate, followed by China. With wheat production, higher yields were in China, Japan, Republic of Korea and New Zealand; China had the highest annual growth rate.
     In the ESAP countries, food production per capita in­creased steadily until 1990 and then began to level off (Fig­ure 2-7). In 2005, the average cereal availability was 283 kg per capita. China had a rapid increase between the 1960s and the 1980s but tended to decrease after that, mainly from changes in the diet with the rise in income and more meat consumption. Indonesia also experienced steady increase in food provision. In contrast, India moderately improved do­mestic food production per capita.

2.2.3.2  AKST in major crop farming systems—three cases
Intensive irrigated rice production. Irrigation and the use