MANILA - SOUTH-EAST Asian nations on Friday supported a rice action plan for the region, including boosting yields, using new technology and policy reforms in response to the rice price crisis early this year.

The measures were presented by the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) during a meeting in Hanoi with officials of the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), IRRI said in a statement.

It said Asean ministers unanimously endorsed the plan.

Asean includes the world's two largest rice exporters, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the biggest importer, the Philippines.

Mr Robert Zeigler, director general at IRRI, told the ministers the institute needed an additional US$15 million (S$22.6 million) a year over the next 10 years to support the rice action plan.

'At a time of trillion-dollar bailouts for the global financial sector, US$15 million a year is barely the annual bonus of a former Wall Street executive,' Mr Zeigler said in the statement.

IRRI said it developed the action plan earlier this year when rice prices surged to all-time highs as Asian countries scrambled to secure supply of the grain, a staple for nearly half the world's population.

Benchmark Thai rice prices have come down to about US$630 a tonne since hitting record highs above US$1,000 a tonne in April as supply of the grain improved, though prices are still far above US$300 a tonne seen in 2007.

Measures under IRRI's seven-point action plan include reducing the gap of 1-2 tonnes per hectare between actual and potential yield in most ricefields in Asia, accelerating delivery of new post-harvest technologies, introduction of higher-yielding rice varieties and providing suitable policy reforms.

Other members of Asean include Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei. -- REUTERS