SEARCA News

KATOWICE, Poland – The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) attended the 3rd Knowledge Management Conference at the University of Economics in Katowice (UEK), Poland on 24-27 June 2015. The conference theme was “Knowledge, Learning, Information Technology.&rdquo… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines – Twenty-four university researchers, development practitioners, and faculty members representing five teams from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and the Philippines (Oriental Mindoro and Leyte) took the challenge to draw up their respective projects in inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development through a five-day training-workshop in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines… Read more

The Food Security Center (FSC) has announced its call for this year’s Excellence Scholarships for full PhD (37 months) and Short-term Scholarships (up to 3 months) for visiting postdoctoral researchers and Sandwich programs for both MS and PhD students… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is implementing the study titled Landscape: Inclusive Agribusiness in Southeast Asia, in support of the Inclusive Agribusiness Southeast Asia Roundtable, which the Southeast Asia Inclusive Agribusiness Roundtable Partnership will convene on 9-10 September 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The Southeast Asia Inclusive Agribusiness Roundtable Partnership is an initiative of Grow Asia, Food Systems Innovation, Seas of Change, Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, and Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)… Read more

LOS BANOS, Philippines – The ASEAN region faces an opportunity to become a champion in food security by addressing the challenge of feeding its 5.1 billion population by 2050, noted policy experts. As one of the world’s food baskets, ASEAN is prone to the multifaceted challenges of food security, especially as the region needs to leapfrog its food production in 2050, noted Dr. Paul S. Teng, principal officer at Singapore-based National Institute of Education… Read more

SHAN STATE, Myanmar – Dr. Bessie Burgos, Program Head of SEARCA’s Research and Development Department reported on the accomplishments of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network Strategic Response Fund (ASRF) for its first year of implementation (April 2014 to May 2015) at the 9th Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN) in Myanmar held on 4-5 June 2015. The ASRF was launched at the 8th ASFN Annual Meeting in Kota Kinabalu in May 2014 and since then, has operated as a pilot small grants facility for social forestry in the ASEAN Region. The ASEAN Member States (AMS) present expressed… Read more

Cognizant of their outstanding achievements to inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development in the region, SEARCA has awarded six outstanding Southeast Asian academicians with the SEARCA Regional Professorial Chair in May 2015. The awardees are Dr. Victor B. Ella, Dr. Teodoro C. Mendoza, and Dr. Jezie A. Acorda from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Dr. Augusto E. Serrano from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), Dr. Dennis S. Mapa from the University of the Philippines Diliman, and Prof. Dr. Ir. Mohd Sapuan Bin Salit from the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)… Read more

Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar – The first Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT) Myanmar Grantees Forum, jointly organized by SEARCA and the Yezin Agricultural University (YAU), was held at YAU in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on 29 May 2015. It was attended by officials, faculty, staff, and graduate students of YAU led by its Rector, Dr. Myo Kywe, staff from the Department of Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI) of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar, and representatives of SEARCA led by Dr. Bessie Burgos, Program Head for Research and Development… Read more

KAWASAKI, Japan – After visiting an Eco-town Center and recycling plant in Kitakyushu, the Philippine delegation explored other eco-town projects located in Kawasaki, Kyoto, and Yokohama on 19-21 May 2015. The Eco-town Visit is an important capacity building component of the project being implemented by SEARCA entitled TA-8493 PHI: Climate Resilience and Green Growth in Critical Watersheds (46441-001), which is spearheaded by the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR)… Read more

CLARK, Pampanga, Philippines – Dr. Jose M. Yorobe, Jr. and Ms. Pilipinas M. Luis bagged the best paper award Socio-economics Category at the 23rd Federation of Crop Science Societies of the Philippines (FCSSP) Conference for their paper titled Improving the Agricultural Insurance Program to Enhance Resilience to Climate Change: Evidence from Corn Farmers in the Philippines. The Conference was held on 11-15 May 2015 at the Hotel Stotsenberg. The winning paper presents the results of the SEARCA-funded study “Improving the Corn Insurance Program to Enhance Resilience to Climate Change”, with Dr. Yorobe as the principal researcher… Read more