Bonn, Germany - German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued a stark warning Thursday on the dangers to humankind caused by the loss of agricultural biodiversity.

Speaking in Bonn to mark International Day for Biodiversity, a UN-sanctioned annual event, Gabriel said: "Just 10 plant species and five species of domesticated animals form the basis of world food production today."

The German environment minister was speaking during a two-week UN biodiversity conference in Bonn attended by 5,000 delegates from around the world.

He noted that Indian farmers had cultivated 30,000 species of rice a century ago and that there were now just 30 left.

This loss of diversity could be dangerous for world food supplies, said Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

"Half the world's population feeds itself with rice," he said.

Gabriel also warned that agriculture based on methods that were too intensive and not geared to the environment could jeopardize biodiversity, calling for farmers and conservationists to find a common solution to halting the loss of species.

Delegates from 190 countries are taking part in the ninth conference of the parties to the CBD, which was drawn up at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The conference runs until May 30. (dpa)