President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt has called on Western governments to drop the subsidies they offer farmers to grow crops for biofuel claiming it is leading to food shortages.

The President’s comments have ignited a debate at the World Economic Forum in Sharm el Sheikh, where business leaders and politicians have been talking about how to balance demand for alternative fuels and affordable food.

In the opening speech of the WEF’s gathering in the Middle East, President Mubarak said: "Is it logical or even acceptable that agricultural crops are used to produce ethanol, leading to a worse crisis in food prices?"

Rapidly rising food prices have led to food riots in Egypt and three people died protesting last month. President Mubarak has ordered the Egyptian Army to bake bread and he increased public sector salaries by 30 per cent to ease the burden on household budgets.

One of the explanations given for rising food prices is that crops and land have been diverted to meet alternative energy quotas, particularly in the United States and Brazil, where the governments offer subsidies to produce ethanol.

Delegates at the WEF said President Mubarak’s words were directed at his fellow speaker that day, George Bush, the president of the United States.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, joined the debate saying: “We need to be more careful in food production and mindful that there are things we can do that harm production. For example, Brazil is displacing livestock into the rainforest, and that means the rainforest is coming down, and that means less rain on the plains so they are not able to grow the bioethanol. It’s a balance we have to think very carefully about. One suggestion offered at the WEF was for governments to agree a list of crops that were appropriate for use as fuel while banning the use of food crops.

Yuriko Koike, a member of the Japanese house of representatives, said: “Burning corn and sugarcane is violating the food. It is important that we formulate international rules that cover the way governments develop biofuels. We should do this urgently to make the distinction between food and energy crops.”