A national summit on developing Northern Australia has heard Australia's ambitions of becoming a food bowl for Asia may not realistic.

Experts say the country's north won't be able to produce enough food to feed the billions of people predicted to live in the Asia Pacific region.

There is expected to be a global shortage of food within the next 50 years and Australian Governments and industry are keen to capitalise.

"We need to see Australian agriculture double its production in real terms across the whole country," Donald McGauchie, chairman of the Australian Agricultural Company, told the ABC.

"The industries that have the capacity to do that are clearly the beef industry, the diary industry and grains industries."

Those industries are looking to northern Australia to help feed a growing middle class in Asia - but experts say that poor soil quality and limited water supply are major obstacles to overcome.

"We can certainly increase our food production in northern Australia but whether we can increase it to the extent that it can actually feed billions of people, I think that's very doubtful," said retired Major General John Hartley, CEO of strategic analysis firm Future Directions International.



The summit heard that the north should instead diversify and become a world leader in tropical health.

"We're a developed country with the largest tropical land mass. We have major scientific assets, we have researchers, we have expertise. This is important for our own population but it's absolutely critically important for the rest of the world," said Professor Sandra Harding, Vice-Chancellor and President of James Cook University.



Experts at the summit have criticised Federal Government funding cuts to the national scientific research agency, the CSIRO. They say without more research, new industries may fail to get off the ground in northern Australia.

"Our research bodies have had their money cut back in a way that, in my view, is endangering our long term future," said Mr McGauchie.

Ideas from the summit will inform the Federal Government's white paper on developing Australia's north.