SEARCA in the News

The Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI) has introduced a process in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro to produce calamansi even during the off-season. The process that involves pruning and the use of plant growth regulators in order to delay the harvest of calamansi has been employed in a pilot plantation in the area that is expected to produce crops all year round. "The success of these farming technologies in attaining a stable supply of calamansi even during lean months will bring farmers in a better position where they can maximize the economic benefits brought about by higher level of farmgate prices… Read more

MANILA, Philippines — The Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI) has introduced the off-season production of calamansi in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro to help boost Philippine calamansi output and exports. The Japanese team has employed a new technology on pruning to delay the harvest of calamansi in order to keep the bounty all year long. This will allow farmers to enjoy a higher income from the high value crop. It also raises the potential to expand the Philippines’ yearly exports of around 170 metric tons (MT) of fresh and processed calamansi to Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates… Read more

IPOH, Malaysia—The Philippines was represented by 36 higher education executives from 17 state universities and colleges and four private universities as well as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) at a Southeast Asian conference on technical and vocation education and training (TVET) convened here by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) last March 26-27. SEAMEO is promoting TVET among learners and their parents through more visible investments in the field, and improving relevance of the curricula to focus on creativity and innovation. The SEAMEO Strategic Dialogue of Education Ministers (SDEM) also agreed that TVET in the… Read more

WOMEN from the upland communities of Inopacan town in Leyte province are now into banana and takudo (gabi) chips production and enterprise development, thanks to the efforts of the Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). The University of the Philippines Los Baños-based SEARCA, a treaty organization, has been helping women in Inopacan town to start a fruit and rootcrop chips processing enterprise through its Inclusive and Sustainable AgriCultural and Rural Development (ISARD) action research project. The SEARCA-funded ISARD project facilitated chips production trainings, the construction of a chips processing plant, and microlending… Read more

More than 100 Legislative officials from the House of Representatives and selected members of the Philippine Judicial Academy (Philja) were apprised on the Philippine regulatory system for genetically modified crops in a briefing held at the House of Representatives on February 27. In the latest briefing, the legislative officials were given thorough information on the Philippine Regulatory System for Genetically Modified Crops: DOST-DA-DENR-DOH-DILG Joint Department Circular (JDC) No. 1, series of 2016. Representatives from the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Health (DOH), Science and Technology (DOST), the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) explained to the… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), which manages the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) Strategic Response Fund (ASRF), will participate in the 8th Meeting of the Ad-Hoc Steering Committee on Climate Change and Food Security to be held in Bali, Indonesia on March 28 to 29. ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. "SEARCA will present its key initiatives on food security in addressing climate change in the ASEAN member-states (AMS). Likewise, it will share initial gains in the implementation of the ASRF. This includes the implementation of nine projects… Read more

Source: The Manila Times14 Mar 2019… Read more

Source: DZMJ Online13 Mar 2019… Read more

Source: DZMJ Online13 Mar 2019… Read more

Source: The Manila Times9 Mar 2019… Read more