Eight Southeast Asians have received research grants from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). The awardees will be recognized during the 43rd Anniversary Celebration of SEARCA on 20 November 2009 in Los Baņos, Laguna.

Begun in 2005, the SEARCA Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT) has given 41 research grants. SFRT is a competitive grant aimed at providing assistance to selected promising but funds-strapped Southeast Asian researchers to enable them to carry out initiatives supportive of agricultural and rural development. Each grant is up to US$15,000.
 
The new grantees and their research studies are:
 
From Indonesia

• Dr. Sunarso of the Faculty of Animal Agriculture, University of Diponegoro, Combining High Rate Anaerobic Biodigester (HiRAB) and Membrane Separation Technology for Increasing Biogas Production Efficiency from Slaughterhouse Wastes; and
• Mr. Wahyu Andy Nugraha of Faculty of Agriculture, Trunojoyo University, A Preliminary Study to Develop Coral Reefs Conservation Zones in Kangean Archipelago, East Java Indonesia Using GIS and Remote Sensing Applications.
   
  

• Mr. Feleciano R. Bejar of Samar State College of Agriculture and Forestry, Management Practices and Morphological Characterization of Indigenous (Native) Chickens in Samar Province;
  
• Dr. Margaret M. Calderon of the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Payments for the Environmental and Cultural Services (PECS) of the Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippines;
  
• Dr. Hilconida P. Calumpong of the Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences, Silliman University, Mangrove Rehabilitation in Ticao I., Masbate, Philippines; and
  
• Ms. Beatriz C. Jadina of the Department of Agronomy and Soil Science, Visayas State University, GIS-aided Biophysical Characterization of Leyte Landscape in Relation to Landslide Occurrences.
  

• Dr. Le Nguyen Doan Khoi of School of Economics and Business Administration, Cantho University, Pangasius Quality Management and Market Access of Small-scale Farmers in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam; and
  
• Mr. Nguyen Van Kien of Plant Resources Center, Utilization of Salinity-tolerant Sweet Potato Varieties towards Improved Livelihood and Productivity for the Salinity-prone Coastal Areas in Thanh Hoa province of Viet Nam.
  

SEARCA, headed by Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., is a regional capacity-building institution that works for agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia through graduate scholarship, research and development, and knowledge management. Established in 1966, SEARCA is hosted by the Philippine government on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.