With food security now high on the political agenda, experts have warned water shortages could become a major limiting factor in efforts to boost production.

The stark warnings came as the Environment Agency (EA) published a new plan to tackle future water shortages, warning demand for water could increase by 25 per cent by 2020.

Tim Hess, an agro-hydrologist at Cranfield University said: “I believe the biggest pressure we will face globally is growing food for a growing world population and we are going to need water to do that.

“Everything that we eat has consumed water in its production, from the water used to grow wheat for a loaf of bread, right down to the water used to grow crops for animal feed to produce meat for the supermarket shelves.

“We know that in the future the population will increase and the demand for food will increase. If the demand for food increases then the demand for water will increase and so water could become a major limiting factor on global production.”

Speaking at a meeting of the British Hydrological Society last week, Mr Hess said few consumers were aware of just how much water is used to produce food, with a typical balanced diet requiring 3,500 litres of water per person per day.

Andy Turner, head of water resources policy at the EA warned that demand for water in parts of the UK already outstrips that of many Mediterranean countries and it is likely to get worse with climate change.

Those areas of the country most at risk of water shortage are East Anglia and the Midlands, but with the effects of climate change the EA warned those shortages could move north and west affecting large swathes of England and Wales.

Publishing its Water Resources Strategy for England and Wales, the EA set out measures that should be implemented to help protect water resources up to 2050, including introducing water meters for consumers and placing a greater focus on conserving water in agriculture.

The plan calls for greater investment in storage reservoirs in agriculture and commits to working with Regional Development Agencies to fund new projects aimed at preserving water and maximising efficiency.

It also calls for the creation of more ‘water abstraction groups' where a group of farmers shares an abstraction licence and allocates water between its members.

The report calls for ‘bold changes' across a range of industries, and will now be passed on to various parts of Government to help direct new policies aimed at preventing a water crisis.