SEARCA congratulates the people of Timor-Leste on the 23rd anniversary of the restoration of their independence.

On 20 May 2002, Timor-Leste became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century, joining the United Nations and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

Timor-Leste has been a member country of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), SEARCA's mother organization, since 2006.

Envisioning itself as becoming a leading enabler and champion of excellence in agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia, SEARCA will establish the Consortium for Agricultural Development, Research, and Extension in Southeast Asia or CADRE. CADRE, as the word implies, will be a network of high-caliber, like-minded institutions with a unified goal of driving agricultural transformation toward sustainable and inclusive development in Southeast Asia.

The Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD) Volume 21 Issue No. 2 presents a diverse collection of studies addressing key agricultural and development challenges in Asia. Topics include global food price dynamics, edible flower conservation, antioxidant-rich pigmented rice, pineapple value chain analysis, rice household productivity in Indonesia, and Philippine hunger surveys.

In July 2020, SEARCA embarked on its five-year (2020-2025) mission, which focuses on Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural INnovation (ATTAIN) and aims to deliver BETTER, BIGGER, and SMARTER impacts and outcomes to agricultural and rural development stakeholders across Southeast Asia.