SEARCA in the News

UNIVERSITY and government officials of an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal visited the Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on November 16, 2023. The delegates from Odisha came to discuss possible collaborations on research, innovations, scholarships and publications. They were Prem Chaudhary, Government of Odisha Department of Agriculture and Food Production (ODAFP) director; Prof. Pravat Kumar Roul, vice chancellor, and Dr. Tushar Ranjan Mohanty, agrometeorologist, both of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT); and Dr. Mukund Variar, Odisha-International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) state coordinator. ODAFP is the… Read more

A THAI university executive has assumed the chairmanship of the governing board of the Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). Associate Professor Dr. Sutkhet Nakasathien, vice president for research and creation at Kasetsart University in Thailand, was elected to serve in this position from 2023 to 2025. As chairman of the board, Sutkhet will lead SEARCA's highest policymaking body which also defines the general policy guidelines of the center. Playing a pivotal role in shaping the strategic direction of SEARCA, the board also conducts an annual review and evaluation of the center's… Read more

TO share good practices for enticing youth into agriculture, 12 Taiwan Youth Agricultural Ambassadors (TYAA) paid a courtesy visit to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on November 17, 2023 as part of the TYAA New Southbound Policy Exchange Program. The Taiwanese group was accompanied by Deputy Director General Hsiao Kuang-wei of the Public Diplomacy Coordination Council-Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and Deputy Director General Hung Hsiao-chun of the Department of International Affairs-Taiwan Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). Providing Taiwanese tertiary students specializing in agriculture, aquaculture, animal husbandry and forestry with an opportunity… Read more

WITH the COVID-19 pandemic bringing innovative ways of inviting people into the learning environment, universities have become engines of social inclusion that can transform agriculture, a reputable Filipino scientist and academician said. Dr. Glenn Gregorio, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), was a plenary speaker at the International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences (ISSAAS) International Scientific Congress and General Meeting 2023, accentuating universities' roles and potentials in transforming agricultural education. Anchored on the theme, "Integrated Management of Southeast Asian Agricultural Landscapes," the congress focused on food security, soil and water… Read more

SOME 23 homeschoolers from the ACTS Center visited the Los Baños, Laguna-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on November 15, 2023 to learn about agri-robotics. During their visit, Richard Angelo Natata, program associate of SEARCA's Emerging Innovation for Growth Department (EIGD), presented a Lincoln Learning Solutions video to stir the students' excitement. With the video delving into robotics in medicine, industry and agriculture, Natata further enticed the students by showing images of robots and encouraging them to guess their specific purposes. Assoc. Prof. Joselito Florendo, SEARCA deputy director for administration, also emphasized the… Read more

THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has set the deadline for submission of entries for the 17th SEARCA Photo Contest on Nov. 30, 2023. SEARCA director Glenn Gregorio said photographers from Southeast Asia are urged to upload their entries to the contest via the SEARCA website before the submission deadline. Anchored on the theme "Regenerating Agri-Ecosystems, Lowering Global Boiling," the photo contest this year draws inspiration from the words of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who declared in July the advent of "global boiling" and emphasized the urgency of the climate crisis. Gregorio… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) calls on photographers in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, to participate in the 17th SEARCA photo contest, which closes on November 30. Themed "Regenerating Agri-Ecosystems, Lowering Global Boiling," the competition drew inspiration from the impactful words of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who declared in July the advent of "global boiling," emphasizing the urgency of the climate crisis. SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio said "global boiling" serves as a metaphorical depiction of the escalating climate crisis, which resonates with SEARCA's priority focus on climate change and its… Read more

THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) conducted a two-week plant-growing competition to further immerse participants in the SEARCA Youth Ambassadors Platform (SAYAP) in agriculture through hands-on experiences. The contest was the second activity under the Green Skills for SEARCA Youth program done through the organization's Partnerships Unit (PU) and with the Dagatan Family Farm School Inc. in line with the celebration of this year's International Youth Day. SAYAP is SEARCA's internal youth empowerment platform for young staff and was relaunched with a community relations and agripreneurship activity in August in Batangas. During the… Read more

The impacts of climate change are becoming more severe over the world, to the point where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on July 21, 2023, "We are past the era of global warming and we are now experiencing global boiling." UN Secretary-General Guterres used those words to call for urgent measures to halt the trend, comparing the hotter-than-usual July to temperatures over the course of the century. According to a research released by the Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2012), the food systems generate 19–29% of the global greenhouse gas emissions through methane and nitrous oxide, putting the agricultural… Read more

MACALELON, Quezon province — Joselito Batanes, a native of Quezon province, has depended on coconut farming for more than 30 years now. Batanes tries to make ends meet by maintaining the coconut trees in someone else's farm located 2.4 kilometers away from the center of Macalelon town with the hopes of harvesting its products at the end of the year. Quezon province is among the top producers of coconut in the Philippines, accounting for 10% of total supply nationwide. Over 2,151 stakeholders consisting of smallholder farmers, dealers of copra, and traders in the province directly depend on the coconut industry… Read more