SEARCA in the News

Arsenio Molina Balisacan President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s pick as director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is Arsenio Balisacan, who also served as NEDA chief during the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III. Educational background BS Agriculture from Mariano Marcos State University (1979) MS Agricultural Economics from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (1982) PhD Economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1985) Work experience NEDA director general (2012 – 2016) Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning Board chairman of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies Chairperson of the Boards of the Philippine Statistics Authority… Read more

Representatives from local government units of Quezon Province and Catanauan, Quezon and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) student interns were trained by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), in cooperation with UPLB, for a baseline assessment of the coconut industry in Quezon province. The training was led by Dr. Pedcris M. Orencio, SEARCA Program Head for Research and Thought Leadership, and Blanquita Pantoja, University Researcher at UPLB and the training technical coordinator. Orencio said the baseline assessment is part of scaling of the processes based on the “SEED Guidebook: Scaling and… Read more

THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in collaboration with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). organized a training for the baseline assessment of the coconut industry in Quezon province. The two-day program held on July 5 and 6 was participated by UPLB's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics student-interns and representatives from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) of Quezon province and Catanauan town's Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMA). Conducted at the SEARCA Residence Hotel, the training was for the participants to familiarize themselves with the survey tool and… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Manila-based Synergygroup Operations, Inc. (SGOI) have teamed up to implement the School Edible Landscaping for Entrepreneurship (SEL4E) Project in Rizal Province. They formalized their partnership in a signing ceremony held on 1 July 2022 at SEARCA in Los Baños, Laguna. The SEL4E Project takes off from the success of the School-plus-Home Gardens Project (S+HGP) implemented by SEARCA in six elementary and high schools in Laguna wherein harvests from the school gardens provided fresh vegetables for the school-based feeding program and enhanced the food and nutrition security… Read more

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) said it has 15 grantees of its Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT) program. SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio said the SFRT is one of the support programs offered by the center which aims to provide start-up funds to researchers and scientists in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region. He explained that these grantees are those who want to make significant contributions to research, development, and knowledge dissemination but are hindered due to lack of funds. Gregorio said the SFRT… Read more

NONGOVERNMENT group Kids Who Farm (KWH) is utilizing hydroponics to lure the youth into agriculture. During the current Pista ng Pagkain at Kabataang Pinoy competition held by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca), KWH founder Muneer Hinay mentioned the benefits of hydroponics in serving to deal with meals safety on the native degree. “In hydroponics, the plant roots absorb balanced nutrients dissolved in water that meet all the plant development requirements. The basic setup is you have a container or grow box, water inside with nutrient solution and an air space so the… Read more

Improving postharvest management and the provision of post-harvest facilities are among the crucial interventions that must be prioritized to improve the productivity and competitiveness of our farmers and fisherfolks. A study from the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) released this year showed significant post-harvest losses experienced by the mango, tomato and onion industries in the Philippines. Among those cited in the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded study is the mango produced in Pangasinan and traded in Manila that incurred post-harvest loss of 30.85 percent, or a volume of 31,581 tonnes valued at ₱1.5 million… Read more

Ang pagpapabuti ng post-harvest management at ang pagkakaloob ng mga post-harvest facility ay kabilang sa mga mahahalagang hakbang upang mapataas ang productivity at competitiveness ng ating mga magsasaka at mangingisda. Ang isang pag-aaral mula sa Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) na inilabas ngayong taon ay nagpakita ng malaking pagkalugi sa post-harvest na naranasan ng mga industriya ng mangga, kamatis at sibuyas sa Pilipinas. Kabilang sa mga binanggit sa pag-aaral na pinondohan ng Asian Development Bank (ADB) ay ang mangga na mula sa Pangasinan at dinala sa Maynila na nagtala ng post-harvest loss na… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna: A non-profit organization established by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization has urged local government units (LGUs) to mainstream urban agriculture in response to the global pandemic. Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) director, said institutionalizing urban agriculture in the Philippines as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic requires active leadership from the local government. This was Gregorio's emphasis as a presenter in the recently held knowledge-sharing forum organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the Socioeconomic Research Portal for the Philippines Network. In 2020… Read more

A STATE university-based instructor from Nueva Vizcaya is a grantee of the Leveling Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) project funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd). According to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), Ventura Chinaman, an instructor at the Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) is ongoing with his mobility activities at Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand until August 31. Through CHEd-funded project, SEARCA facilitates capacity-building activities and international linkages for Philippine higher education institutions (HEI). SEARCA said Chinaman will stay at KU for… Read more