SEARCA News

PASIG CITY, Philippines – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) formalized their mutual understanding to partner in areas of common interest, such as education, capacity building, and research, in a ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) held on 27 May 2024 at UA&P in Ortigas. The signatories to the five-year MOU are SEARCA Center Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio and Dr. Winston Conrad Padojinog, UA&P president, with Assoc. Prof. Joselito Florendo, SEARCA deputy director for administration, and Dr. Marya Svetlana Camacho, UA&P vice… Read more

Six outstanding experts from 30 nominees in Southeast Asia received the SEARCA Regional Professorial Chair Award for Academic Year 2024–25. SEARCA is recognizing these academics for the impacts of their research, instruction, and innovation efforts and in supporting agricultural and rural development in the region. The grantees are Prof. William Chen Wei Ning from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore; Prof. Muhammad Ikhwanuddin Abdullah of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) in Malaysia; Prof. Sri Suhartini from Universitas Brawijaya (UB), Indonesia; Assoc. Prof. Sarana Sommano of Chiang Mai University (CMU), Thailand; Prof. Alan P. Dargantes of Central Mindanao University (CMU), and Prof… Read more

Assistant Vice President for Global Relations Dr. Balakrishnan Prithiviraj of Dalhousie University visited the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 22 May 2024 to explore potential areas of collaboration. He was accompanied by the University of the Philippines Los Baños Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension Dr. Nathaniel Bantayan. Dalhousie University is Nova Scotia, Canada's leading research-intensive university. With 13 faculties, it combines exceptional student experience, high-impact research, and a deep sense of social responsibility. It welcomes 21,000 students from Canada and more than 115 countries around the world. During the visit, Dr… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), in partnership with East-West Seed Philippines, launched the Innovation Fair, which showcased various agricultural products. It was participated by agripreneurs from different regions of the Philippines during the concluding session of Young Agripreneurs Building Opportunities, Nurturing Growth Bootcamp (YABONG) Bootcamp on 9 May 2024 at SEARCA Headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna. The Innovation Fair was part of YABONG's Graduation Day in which the top five business improvement plans were awarded a PHP 50,000 boost to kickstart their farm enhancements. Alongside the pitch competition, 10 agripreneurs were set… Read more

SERDANG, Malaysia—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), through its Partnerships Unit (PU), together with Pusat Asasi Sains Universiti Putra Malaysia (ASPutra), organized a Malaysia edition of the Sowing Seeds: Cultivating Youth's Future in Agriculture, a career orientation program for senior high school and pre-university students on 10 May 2024. The program is under the Center's banner youth initiative, Young Forces for Agricultural Innovation (#Y4AGRI). ASPutra, otherwise known as the Centre for Foundation Studies in Science of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), is the country's only institution offering a pre-degree program on basic studies in… Read more

Five young agricultural business owners were granted 50 thousand pesos each as seed money to improve their vegetable and commodity farm businesses on 9 May 2024 at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) headquarters, Los Banos, Laguna. The grants were given under the banner of the Young Agripreneurs Building Opportunities, Nurturing Growth (YABONG) Bootcamp. The grantees— Ms. Kristine Mae Baluzo, Mr. Mark Lee Babaran, Mr. Christian Paolo Magsino, Ms. Rochelle Lafrades, and Mr. Robert Diala, were the top picks from 16 participants after a closed-door presentation of their business improvement plans (BIPs) to… Read more

One hundred seventy-five senior high school students from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba, Philippines, accompanied by 10 faculty members, participated in the first run of the Sowing Seeds: Cultivating Youth's Future in Agriculture, a career orientation organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) through its Partnerships Unit (PU) as part of the Center's Young Forces for Agricultural Innovation (#Y4AGRI) program on 2 May 2024. Sowing Seeds aims to step up efforts in promoting agriculture not only to Filipinos but also to other Southeast Asian youth. It also seeks to… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) hosted a workshop on Harmonizing University Policies in Postgraduate Micro-credentials on 6–7 May 2024 at its office in Los Banos, Laguna. The workshop is part of the activities of the Postgraduate Micro-credentials in Food Security and Climate Change (PMC FSCC) project, which is funded by the European Commission ERASMUS+ Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE) program. A total of 21 delegates came from various universities in Southeast Asia, including Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), and Universitas Brawijaya (UB) located in Indonesia; Maejo University (MJU)… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), together with the Regional SEARCA Alumni Association (RSAA), organized a conference for its scholars and alumni on 25-26 April 2024, at SEARCA headquarters, Los Baños, Laguna. With the theme, "Cultivating Tomorrow: SEARCA's Insights for Agriculture's Future," the conference showcased the research accomplishments of selected SEARCA scholars as of A.Y. 2023-2024. During the two-day conference, 22 scholars presented their research in five sessions: agriculture policy and development, natural resource management, food and biological sciences, agronomy and plant sciences, and innovation in agricultural applications. Twenty-two alumni also participated in… Read more

As the Young Agripreneurs Building Opportunities, Nurturing Growth (YABONG) Bootcamp concludes, the final challenge is set. Participating agripreneurs will harness their newfound skills from the three-month bootcamp to devise innovative business improvement plans for their farms. By graduation day on 9 May 2024, they will bring their strategies to life in a pitch competition, with the top five earning a PHP 50,000 boost to kickstart their farm enhancements. Mid-April marks the 21st and last online session for the YABONG Bootcamp. At the final face-to-face graduation session, 17 bootcamp finishers will compete for the awards on the best-laid plans while exhibiting… Read more