SEARCA News

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

BULACAN — The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), in partnership with the East-West Seed Philippines (EWPH), conducted the first face-to-face session of YABONG or Young Agripreneurs Building Opportunities, Nurturing Growth Bootcamp on 15 March 2024 at the East-West Seed Company in San Rafael and San Ildefonso, Bulacan. This whole-day activity was part of the three-month training program, which aims to enhance the participants' expertise in vegetable production and entrepreneurship. Since its implementation in January, the sessions have been conducted online, and it was the first time that the activity was held face-to-face. The… Read more

MASBATE CITY, Philippines—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Dr. Emilio B. Espinosa Sr. Memorial State College of Agriculture and Technology (DEBESMSCAT) jointly hosted the very first International Research Opportunities, Developments, and Extension Outcomes (IRODEO) Conference held from 10 to 12 April 2024 at the Masbate Coliseum. Adhering to the conference theme "Bridging Horizons: Integrating Knowledge for Regenerative Futures," the first plenary speaker, SEARCA Center Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio, spotlighted the pivotal role of partnership and collaborative relationships in accelerating agriculture transformation. He accentuated the need for strategic alliances among the academe… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Newfields Consulting Ltd. (NFC) have jointly offered a series of training activities aimed at providing technical support to carbon farm planners and extension workers in Philippine rice-based farming systems. By offering carbon emission monitoring services, farmers can gain insight into their carbon footprint. They can implement efficient strategies, and play an active role in promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Following the successful completion of the first and second training workshops held last 10–11 March 2023 and 20–21 November 2023, respectively, the third… Read more

Every year, 300–400 million tons of rice straws are burned as waste or left in flooded paddy fields across Asia, emitting greenhouse gases (GHG) and worsening the climate. Despite the environmental laws prohibiting the improper disposal of rice straws, such as the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (Republic Act 9003) and the Clean Air Act of 1999 (Republic Act 8749), a PhilRice report in 2016 shows that 70 percent of rice farmers burn rice straws (Sapnu, 2016). To resolve this dilemma, Straw Innovations Ltd. has partnered with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture… Read more