SEARCA News

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) featured Dr. Oskar Lecuyer, an environmental economist at the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), in its latest Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) held via Zoom and onsite at SEARCA on 12 September 2025. Lecuyer presented the Blue Environmental Sustainability Gap (Blue ESGAP) framework, a pioneering tool for assessing nature-related risks and guiding sustainable management of marine and coastal resources. Building on AFD's Environmental Sustainability Gap (ESGAP) model, the Blue ESGAP is being piloted in Indonesia and the Philippines to measure the ecological, social, and… Read more

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—An innovative alert system powered by satellites, sensors, and drones may soon help cacao farmers safeguard their crops and ensure a steady supply of premium beans. A groundwork project in Davao City, Philippines validated the use of satellite data, soil sensors, and drone imaging to provide farmers advance alerts on health disruptions in their cacao farms. Farmers will receive these warnings as simple messages on their mobile phones, enabling them to address the problems before they escalate. The project was funded by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) through its Grants… Read more

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY and BUKIDNON, Philippines—The Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) and Central Mindanao University (CMU) will host the 7th UC Faculty Forum (UCFF) on 24–25 September 2025 at Mallberry Suites Business Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City and CMU in Bukidnon, Philippines. As the UC Secretariat, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) will support the conduct of the UCFF. The event will be addressed by SEARCA's top leadership, with Dr. Mercedita A. Sombilla, Center Director, delivering a message during the opening program and… Read more

KAMPONG THOM and SIEM REAP, Cambodia—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), in collaboration with the Center of Excellence on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Nutrition (CE SAIN), has undertaken a baseline study as part of the School-plus-Home Gardens cum Biodiversity Enhancement and Enterprise (SHGBEE) Project in Cambodia. The study is a foundational step in assessing the current conditions of selected pilot sites and generating evidence-based insights to guide project implementation and monitoring. The initial phase of the baseline study involved profiling of pilot school gardens at Raksmey Sophanna High School and Samdech Euv High… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines—Coastal communities across Southeast Asia, long been plagued by poverty despite their proximity to rich marine resources, must be reintegrated into national and local development strategies through the emerging blue economy. This was highlighted in a lecture delivered under the Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 20 August 2025. ADSS speaker Dr. Ma. Carmen Ablan-Lagman of De La Salle University (DLSU) pointed out that the region's oceans hold a huge potential to generate inclusive and sustainable growth. In her seminar, titled "From Margins… Read more

Young Southeast Asian leaders from Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines took the spotlight as speakers in a special webinar held by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 14 August 2025 via Zoom and Facebook Live. In line with International Youth Day, the youth speakers shared insights from their work in driving change in local agrifood systems. They highlighted innovations, challenges, and solutions for engaging more young people in agrifood systems. Ms. San Thida Aung of Myanmar presented their initiatives for developing next-generation farmers through MyFarmer Labs, an agritech social enterprise pioneering a… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines—Seventy review students preparing for the Licensure Examination for Agriculturists enrolled at Upstep Review Center, accompanied by two staff members, Ms. Anj Cordero and Ms. Joy Aira Bunan, visited the Southeast Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 28 August 2025. Founded in 2019, Upstep Review Center is a Los Baños, Laguna-based institution that seeks to raise the national passing rate in board examinations and empower the young generation of professionals who will serve as frontliners in various industries in the Philippines. This batch of reviewees hailed from different parts of the Philippines, representing… Read more

Fourteen undergraduate students from Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI), accompanied by Prof. Dr. Nina Nocon-Shimoguchi and Asst. Prof. Dongyool Kim and faculty members from the Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship, University of the Philippines Los Baños, visited the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 19 August 2025 for a briefing on the Center's programs and activities related to agribusiness development. For years now, SEARCA has hosted Tokyo NODAI students for their Philippine Field Practice, with this visit marking the 35th batch of students to take part in this enriching cross-cultural and… Read more

NUEVA ECIJA, Philippines—The 9th University Consortium Summer School (UC SS), hosted by Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the SEARCA-established Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC), brought together 26 graduate students from Southeast Asia, Iran, Japan, Taiwan, and Turkey in an immersive academic program held on 28 July–8 August 2025 at the CLSU campus in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. With the theme "Ridge to Reef: Integrated Management for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems," the program combined online… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines — Multi-sector stakeholders from government, academe, industry, and farming communities gathered at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 8 August 2025 for the Seminar-Workshop on Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) Technology: Strengthening Policy Support for Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Rice Production in the Philippines, jointly organized by Bayer CropScience Philippines, SEARCA, and the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA). The seminar-workshop addressed the pressing challenges confronting the country's rice sector—labor shortages, climate change, high production costs, and the need to increase productivity while cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water use—by promoting… Read more