IAEA officials said the nearly century-old technique called mutation induction is safe and cost effective and the plants it can help create are adaptable to droughts, floods and other harsh weather conditions, and can be bred to be resistant to diseases and pests.

"Selecting the crops that are better able to feed us is one of humankind's oldest sciences," said Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA director general. "But we've neglected to give it the support and investment it requires for universal application."

The IAEA said it, along with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, have assisted in creating more than 3,000 crop varieties of nearly 200 plant species through nuclear technology, including barley that grows at altitudes of up to 16,400 feet and rice that thrives in salty soil.

The organization said mutation induction can help to alleviate the current food crisis that involves 850 million hungry people worldwide.