SEARCA News

The Philippine agriculture sector achieved two much-awaited milestones with the approval of Golden Rice for commercial production and the approval of BT eggplant for food, feed, or for processing (FFP) in July 2021. This makes Filipinos closer to harvesting the projected benefits of these biotech crops soon. Following its approval for FFP in December 2019, Golden Rice has been granted a biosafety permit for commercial propagation by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI). This allows the DA-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to proceed with the production of Golden Rice on a commercial scale for human consumption. This makes… Read more

Dr. Daud Samsudewa, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia, was invited as a speaker for the NRCP Division IV Technical Webinar Series #3 on 30 July 2021 via Zoom. The Department of Science and Technology-National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP) organized the said webinar. Dr. Samsudewa presented the “Development of Timor Deer (Rusa timorensis) as part of an Ecotourism Program.” He started the DEER Conservation Program during his doctoral studies at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). Dr. Samsudewa’s goal is to support the development of Timor deer in Indonesia and address… Read more

Dr. Glenn B. GregorioDirector and CEOSoutheast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) By all indications, the performance of the Philippine agriculture sector in the first half of 2021 points to a high probability of maintained positive growth over the rest of the year. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have noted with keen interest how the agriculture sector has managed to achieve a positive growth rate. However, the challenge of surpassing a 2% growth rate of the volume of agriculture production may possibly remain very elusive given the number of systemic challenges besetting… Read more

In December 2017, the United Nations declared 2019-2028 as the UN Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) in recognition of the important role that family farmers play in eradicating hunger and shaping the future of food. To guide the implementation of the UNDFF, a Global Action Plan was developed and designed around seven (7) pillars, the first being the development of an enabling policy environment to strengthen family farming. Well-crafted agricultural public policies can propel the transformation towards sustainable food systems, especially those that place family farmers at the forefront. It is in this context that the International Fund for Agricultural… Read more

The Central Luzon State University (CLSU), in cooperation with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC), co-organized the International Summer Short-Term Course on mushroom farming, organic agriculture, aquaculture, and transboundary animal diseases. The short-term course will run from July 19-29, 2021. During its opening program on July 19, Dr. Edgar A. Orden, University President of CLSU, welcomed the participants to their course offering which highlights the mastery of concepts and skills relevant to the student's field of interest through… Read more

Cognizant of the need to boost and reboot the country’s livestock, dairy, and poultry subsectors, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), together with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and selected Asian research institutions, is currently undertaking a collaborative study titled “International Benchmarking Study of the Philippine Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Industries” co-developed and funded by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The study aims to determine the Philippines and other Asian countries’ comparative advantages in terms of costs, production management, and marketing practices, as well as to identify and analyze… Read more

A curriculum and a learning environment that is safe, conducive, inclusive, and ASEAN-ready for the next generation of agri-food system champions sums up the presentation of Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, the Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and a Professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), in the dialogue entitled National Dialogue on Engaging the Youth in Agriculture: The Key to Food Secure Future on 7 July 2021 via Webex.  Organized by the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA), the dialogue serves as a preparation for the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in September 2021. It… Read more

The first regional consultation workshop conducted on 07 July 2021 discussed the development of the third volume of the ASEAN Guidelines for Promoting Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) Practices. Held virtually, experts from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) served as key presenters and led the discussions on the Guideline’s development process. This workshop was organized by the ASEAN Climate Resilience Network (ASEAN-CRN) and hosted by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI). It aims to create a joint understanding among ASEAN Member States (AMS) on the development process of the third volume… Read more

As a commitment to futureproofing Southeast Asian learners to be influential catalysts of agri innovation in this time of the pandemic, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) partners once again with the University of the Philippines Los Baños-Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension (UPLB-OVCRE) for a Basic English Training for SEARCA scholars held from 19 July 2021 to 9 August 2021 via Zoom and Google Classroom.  The customized trainings aim to give scholars the necessary skills that would assist them in accomplishing their course requirements, navigating their graduate studies, and prepare them to become future leaders… Read more

Dr. Glenn B. GregorioDirector and CEOSoutheast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Recognizing the importance of conserving coastal and marine resources as further emphasized in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14: Life below water), we support the call that, “No Member shall grant or maintain any subsidy to a vessel or operator engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.” As studies have shown, the Philippine fisheries has for years experienced steep declines in catch per unit effort (CPUE) while the marine and capture fisheries landing, both for commercial and municipal fisheries, have followed upward… Read more