SEARCA News

Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., immediate past Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), was named as one of the Outstanding Alumni of the College of Economics and Management (CEM) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) during its Centennial Anniversary Celebration held on 19 July 2019. The award is given in recognition of his illustrious career in agricultural and rural development capped with an unprecedented three consecutive terms as SEARCA Director. He attributes his success to the education and training he received at UPLB-CEM which laid the foundation of…

BANGKOK, Thailand – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) was one of the selected partner organizations to participate in the recently concluded 2nd International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Mekong Knowledge and Learning Fair (MKLF) here on 10–12 July 2019 at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers. The 2019 MKLF, with the theme, "Promoting Partnerships: Smallholder Producers with Private Agribusiness and Financial Institutions," aimed to (1) learn from the shared experiences of Thailand in developing agribusiness, which benefit the smallholder farmers; (2) identify approaches, technologies, and solutions from the shared tested practices…

Forty-four (44) students and twenty-five (25) staff from the members of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) and from partner universities under the Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MSFSCC) project converged at SEARCA this 15 July 2019 for the joint opening of the UC-MSFSCC Summer School and the MSFSCC Training of Trainers. This year's Summer School with theme "Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems in Vulnerable Areas" is jointly organized by the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU),…

Ten Southeast Asian nationals received the In-Country/In-Region Scholarship Grants from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through SEARCA to pursue their graduate studies at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and Kasetsart University (KU) for Academic Year 2019/2020. The 2019 DAAD grantees are the following: NameCountryDegree Sought/Study Post Pengly Koun Cambodia MS Agricultural ResourcesKasetsart University Nguyen Thi Thuy Vietnam MS Veterinary MedicineKasetsart University Chindy Ulima Zanetta Indonesia PhD Plant ScienceUniversiti Putra Malaysia Cipto Nugroho Indonesia PhD Plant PathologyUniversity of the Philippines Los Baños Gita Addelia Nevara Indonesia PhD Food ScienceUniversiti Putra Malaysia M Murughan…

SEARCA will hold a 10-day Basic English Course for its incoming scholars this 17 to 30 July 2019. The training will cover four modules: Writing and Grammar, Conversations for Social and Academic Situations including Oral Reports/Presentations, Pronunciation Improvement, and Reading and Vocabulary Enrichment. A team led by Asst. Prof. Emerita P. Cervantes will conduct the training. Prof. Cervantes is a retired Assistant Professor from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, where she also served as Head of the English Division and Coordinator of the Language Instruction Towards Excellence (LITE) Program of the College of Arts and Sciences. Her team…

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), together with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Interdisciplinary Studies Center for Water (IdSC Water), and the UPLB College of Engineering and Agro-industrial Technology (CEAT), held the Program Development Workshop on Sustainable Water Resources Management for Food Security in Southeast Asia on 26-28 June 2019 at SEARCA Headquarters, College, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. The workshop aimed to contribute to sustainable water resource management systems for food security in Southeast Asia through stocktaking of research, policy, and other initiatives; identifying gaps that…

"It was all about creating added value for the farmer. And this is really the heart of the matter for serious seeds people: how can we create added value for the farmers." These were the words of Dr. Simon N. Groot, the 2019 World Food Prize laureate, at his commencement address during the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) graduation rites held on 22 June 2019 where he was also conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in recognition of his outstanding achievement in his field and exemplary service to his fellowmen. On the other hand, the World Food…