Asian countries sought Friday to tame the spiralling rice market, with Thailand proposing an OPEC-style cartel for exporters and the Philippines shoring up supplies while aiming to end its status as the world's largest importer.

The moves came as prices for rice and other food staples have been rising rapidly around the world, sparking violent protests in Haiti and Egypt, along with concerns of unrest elsewhere amid profiteering and hoarding.

The sudden crisis - the price of rice has more than tripled since January - has experts calling for major changes in food production to improve crop yields and cut waste.

"The world has come together in the past," said Robert Zeigler, director general of the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, Philippines. "I think they could come together again to make sure that humanity has enough to eat. We just need the political will."

Grumbling public

Zeigler's comments came as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited the institute, underscoring the need to show a grumbling public that the government was doing something to deal with the rice prices and stock.

Arroyo has ordered a crackdown on speculators and angrily demanded to know why more people have not been arrested.

Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, said it wants to form an OPEC-style cartel with Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam to give them more control over international rice prices.