SEARCA in the News

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing for ‘no cluster, no assistance’ policy in the agriculture sector to force farmers to consolidate into cooperatives and associations, which will make it easier for the government to distribute farm assistance. In a statement, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the agency will “enhance what we have started under our National Corn Program (NCP)”, which recommended “no cluster, no assistance” policy in terms of production, post-harvest, processing, and marketing assistance. “We will offer clustered and consolidated farms with incentives on top of the regular technical and marketing assistance under our major commodity programs. Incentives… Read more

SOME Mindanao farmers have raised their income by 47 percent after having been aided by an agricultural clustering project of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), a think tank said. This was reported by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) in a study authored by Glenn Gregorio and six researchers. He said the Mindanao model has proved to be a success model of the “more profitable” agricultural clustering, which focused on organizing farmers to become somehow “big.” “Small is beautiful. But big is powerful,” said Gregorio. After getting organized, Mindanao farmers… Read more

The entire Southeast Asia is poised to lose as much as 1.4 percent or $3.76 billion of its gross domestic product (GDP) as COVID-19 pandemic cuts the region’s agriculture production. This is according to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), who said COVID-19 is foreseen to substantially reduce by a significant 3.11 percent the volume of agriculture output in Southeast Asia just in the first three months of the year. The decline translates to as much as 17.03 million metric tons (MT) of output as a result of a decrease in farm labor… Read more

Agriculture experts said that it’s still possible for the Philippines to achieve food security and that would be through urban agriculture, a form of farming that would encourage the households to plant their own staple food. This would be the new normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a digital brainstorming webinar conducted by Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). Called SOLVE (SEARCA Online Learning and Virtual Engagement), the webinar tackled food security amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “SOLVE IS SEARCA’s own way of channeling proven and tested solutions to a number of problems in… Read more

Smallholder farms and agriculture-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stand to become more competitive and to connect with national and international markets when they form agricultural clusters, according to a regional think tank. According to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), more than 80% of food produced and consumed in the developing world come from smallholder farms dominating Southeast Asia. SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio explained that at less than five hectares each, these smallholder farms are constrained by their remote and dispersed locations making access to modern technology, services, and information… Read more

All public and private schools in 11 Southeast Asian countries are invited to submit entries for the 2020 Seameo-Japan Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Award with the theme “Addressing Plastic Problems for Transforming Communities.” The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (Seameo) and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology established the award, in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. It is in support to the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.” Now in its ninth year… Read more

COVID 19 is foreseen to substantially reduce by a significant 3.11% the volume of agriculture output in Southeast Asia (at 17.03 million metric tons or MT) for the first quarter of 2020 as a result of a decrease in farm labor affecting 100.77 million farmers. This loss is equivalent to $3.76 billion or 1.4% in gross domestic product (GDP) for the Southeast Asian region, according to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). In a policy paper, “Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Agriculture Production  in Southeast Asia: Reinforcing Transformative Change in Agricultural Food Systems,”… Read more

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) – Agriculture Secretary William Dar reported on Thursday that ₱5.4-billion worth of agricultural produce from farmers and fishermen were sold to consumers amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Dar told in the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing on the government's COVID-19 response that among the said figure, ₱2.9 billion came from Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita direct marketing program of the Department of Agriculture. Some ₱2.24 billion worth of produce were bought by local government units nationwide, while the rest of the amount were sold through Kadiwa’s retail selling, Kita on Wheels, Kita… Read more

The following link will take you to INQUIRER.net: COVID-19 slashes SE Asia agri output by 3.11%https://business.inquirer.net/297866/covid-19-slashes-se-asia-agri-output-by-3-11… Read more

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is expected to reduce the volume of agriculture output in Southeast Asia by 3.11 percent, according to the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca). The loss was equivalent to at least 17.03 million metric tons (MT) of agricultural production for the first quarter of 2020 as a result of a decline in farm labor affecting 100.77 million farmers, it said. Searca added that this might result to a $3.76-billion or 1.4-percent loss in gross domestic product for the region. In a policy paper titled “Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic… Read more