SEARCA in the News

Four Filipinos won five of the six top prizes in the 13th Photo Contest of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) with the theme "Cultivating Southeast Asia's Youth Agripreneurs." The winners are Mariano Sayno, first prize; Phan Thi Khanh of Vietnam, second prize; Jose Ramos, third prize; and Christopher Andres, People's Choice Award. Jaime Singlador bagged the SEARCA Director's Choice and the Philippine Department of Education Secretary's Choice, both new special prize categories. Sayno's photo shows a mother-and-son tandem in the town of Laguna, which is known for its duck-raising cottage industry. The… Read more

THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has renewed its partnership with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to further address challenges in the country's rice industry. Under their three-year agreement signed on Jan. 20, 2020, SEARCA and PhilRice will collaborate on joint research, capacity building activities, and knowledge and information exchange, among other activities. SEARCA had been collaborating with PhilRice, conducting research on improving agricultural insurance to enhance resilience to climate change; estimating the demand elasticities of rice in the Philippines; nature, sources and causes of Philippine agriculture's productivity growth; assessing the Gulayan… Read more

Los Baños, Laguna—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture has completed the Philippine Carabao Center-funded project titled "Building Capacity and Strengthening Partnership for Carabao Development Program" conducted from April 2015 to December 2019. Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, turned over the final report to Dr. Arnel N. del Barrio, PCC Executive Director, during his visit to PCC. With him was a team from SEARCA that included SEARCA Deputy Director Joselito G. Florendo. The project had three components: knowledge management, capacity building, and enterprise development, which supported PCC in upscaling its implementation of the CDP… Read more

"We don't just need a hero now, what we need are partners." That is according to Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Director Glenn B. Gregorio, who said that support is needed from all the stakeholders in order to help farmers become entrepreneurs. Gregorio said this as he delivered the keynote address at the 33rd Anniversary celebration of the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-ATI-CAR). In his keynote address titled "Climate Change and the 4th IR Readiness through Extension and Innovation on Farming Technologies," Gregorio emphasized that SEARCA is working with partners… Read more

BAGUIO CITY: An intergovernment treaty organization focusing on agriculture research has partnered with the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-ATI-CAR) in implementing the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-funded project for small farmers. Dr. Glenn Gregorio, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), said they were working with partners such as ATI to make a difference in agriculture in Southeast Asia and the Philippines in particular. Gregorio was here during the 33rd anniversary celebration of the DA-ATI-CAR on January 30. The celebration's theme was "Vibrant Agriculture and Fishery Extension Toward… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) has completed a Philippine Carabao Center (PCC)-funded project that assisted 17 cooperative-beneficiaries under its enterprise development component. The project, titled “Building Capacity and Strengthening Partnership for Carabao Development Program (CDP),” was conducted from April 2015 to December 2019. Of the 17 cooperatives, 13 were in Luzon and four in the Visayas. They were givenequipment, tools, supplies and vehicles needed for their carabao-based enterprises. Glenn Gregorio, Searca director, turned over the final report to Arnel del Barrio, PCC executive director, during his recent visit to the carabao center… Read more

Greenpeace is now aggressively escalating its attacks on Golden Rice just weeks after the Philippine government determined it is safe for human and animal consumption. Its Philippines’ chapter is calling on the government to revoke its December decision that puts approval on a fast track. The environmental activist group is now arguing that the government erred in not following the ‘precautionary principle’, a controversial regulatory concept that considers all the potential hazards of a decision or policy but often ignores whether any real-world risks are involved, and rarely includes cost-benefit analysis. It’s a notion widely deployed by activist groups in… Read more

Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), one of the pioneer institutions of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, has partnered with Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) to start various collaborations on food security. Adopting a holistic and inter-disciplinary approach, SEARCA and DA-PhilRice will collaborate on programs, projects, and other related activities addressing the challenges identified by SEARCA on its strategic plan. Among these challenges include global warming and unpredictable weather patterns; periodic but unpredictable food shortages and price spikes; uneven, inequitable, and jobless economic growth; and globalized supply chains… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) have renewed their partnership to further collaborate and address challenges, particularly leadership development, in the country’s rice sector. SEARCA is keen to contribute in addressing regional and global challenges, elevating agricultural families’ quality of life. The Center will do so by enabling them to access new and innovative financial services​​; to adopt new, sustainable, resilient production technologies and systems​​; to integrate with modern postharvest and logistics system​​; and to gain access to and operate in modern networks and markets​​. ​Meanwhile, PhilRice is mandated… Read more

MANILA, Philippines — The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) have renewed their partnership to further collaborate and address challenges, particularly leadership development, in the country’s rice sector. SEARCA is keen to contribute in addressing regional and global challenges, elevating agricultural families' quality of life. It intends to do so by enabling farmers to access new and innovative financial services??, adopting  new, sustainable, resilient production technologies and systems?? and  integrating with modern postharvest and logistics system. PhilRice, on the other hand,  is mandated to help develop high-yielding and cost-reducing… Read more