Manila - A new multilateral initiative was launched Tuesday to boost food security in South Asia by substantially increasing crop yields and income of millions of farmers in the region, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said.

According to the Philippines-based IRRI, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) aims to produce an additional 5 million tons of grain annually and increase the income of about 6 million farmers by at least 350 dollars.

"CSISA aims to reverse the declines in the annual cereal yield growth of recent years, decrease hunger and malnutrition and increase in food and income security ... through accelerated development and deployment of new cereal varieties, sustainable management technologies and agricultural policies," IRRI said in a statement.

The initiative, to be led by IRRI, will bring together a range of public and private sector organizations to enable sustainable cereal production in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

The project will be supported with a 19.59-million-dollar grant over three years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a
10-million-dollar grant over three years from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Achim Dobermann, IRRI deputy director general for research, said the support to the new initiative signals an increasing recognition worldwide that agricultural research needs committed, long-term funding.

"The food price spikes in 2008 were a stark reminder of what can happen when agricultural productivity growth - which is reliant on continued research and development - tapers off and begins to overtake supply," he said.

"CSISA can take big steps in the eradication of hunger, malnutrition and poverty in the region that has grappled with these afflictions for far too long," Dobermann added. (dpa)