AN executive from the Dalhousie University (DU) of Canada visited the Laguna-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) to explore potential collaboration areas on scholarship and capacity building.
During the visit on May 22, 2024, DU Assistant Vice President for Global Relations Balakrishnan Prithiviraj was accompanied by the University of the Philippines Los Baños Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension Nathaniel Bantayan.
They were received by Associate Prof. Joselito Florendo, SEARCA deputy director for administration. With them in the meeting were Sharon Malaiba, head of the SEARCA Partnerships Unit (PU); Bernice Anne De Torres, SEARCA Research and Thought Leadership Department program specialist; Lichelle Dara Carlos, SEARCA Emerging Innovation for Growth Department program specialist; and key PU staff.
SEARCA director Glenn Gregorio said Prithiviraj was given an overview of SEARCA's mandate, core programs and offerings.
It was De Torres who shared the center's plan to launch the Consortium for Agricultural Development, Research and Extension (CADRE).
She explained that CADRE is a regional network of high-caliber, like-minded institutions that will collaborate to "deliver research and extension support on the most pressing issues and challenges faced by the Southeast Asian agriculture sector."
De Torres also discussed the Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources or AFNR Knowledge Platform, a knowledge generation to knowledge utilization community of practice as well as other notable projects.
These projects include the School-plus-Home Garden Project or SHGP in Laguna, Philippines and its offshoot projects, namely, the School-Plus-Home Gardens cum Biodiversity Enhancement and Enterprise or SHGBEE in Palawan, Philippines and Cambodia, and the School Edible Landscaping for Entrepreneurship or SEL4E in Rizal, Philippines.
Carlos also introduced the recently concluded Young Agripreneurs Building Opportunities, Nurturing Growth Bootcamp, a three-month training that aimed to help young farmers succeed in vegetable farming and entrepreneurship.
She shared about the Rice Straw Biogas Hub or RSBH, a three-year joint venture funded by Innovate UK "to generate biogas as clean energy from waste rice straw and provide innovative technology services for rice farmers."
On the center's scholarship and grant programs, Prithiviraj was also briefed on the SEARCA Travel Grants Program; the SEARCA Faculty and Student Mobility Grant; and the Seed Fund for Research and Training, which provides starter funds to researchers and scientists who significantly contribute to Southeast Asian agriculture but lack the funding to carry out their projects.
Another scholarship introduced was the Grants for Research toward Agricultural Innovative Solutions or GRAINS which provides starter funds not only to researchers and scientists but also to inventors and agripreneurs to scale up their technology or innovation model.
Prithiviraj expressed strong interest in partnering with SEARCA on a joint PhD program and various capacity-building initiatives.
The visitors were given a tour of the SEARCA Hub for Agriculture and Rural Innovation for the Next Generation called SHARING.
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.