SEARCA's scientific journal steps up to the global challenges of agricultural development

  • By Monalinda B. Cadiz
  • 16 December 2019

SEARCA's scientific journal steps up to the global challenges of agricultural development The Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD) launches a new look on its 15th year of publication, symbolic of the pivotal turn in its publisher's goal to contribute in addressing regional and global challenges, elevating agricultural families' quality of life through sustainable and resilient livelihoods and access to modern networks and markets.

The new AJAD look highlights the iconic "tree" emblem of its publisher, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), which shows a molave tree with an interlace of grain stalks and panicles wreathed under its roots. In the same way, AJAD intends to anchor on its roots while widening its reach to promote greater awareness of the latest findings in research, new methodologies, and policy concerns in agriculture and rural development in Asia.

"The evolving context of agriculture, rural development, and state of farmers, as aligned with the global goals, focus on the contribution of agriculture to hunger and malnutrition eradication, and to improving the standard of living of all in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner," says Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director.

Dr. Gregorio underscores SEARCA's commitment "to participate in the achievement of global priorities and contribute to developing awareness, changing mindsets, and initiating collective action in collaboration with its key partners."

In line with SEARCA's more aggressive stance of contributing to the state of agriculture primarily in the Southeast Asian region, and broadly to global development targets, AJAD will continually improve the quality and relevance of published papers and broaden its reach across Asia and beyond.

The latest AJAD issue, Volume 16 Number 2 published this December, features six papers authored by researchers from four countries. The first two measure performances: first is the rice production efficiency in Myanmar using data envelopment analysis, and the second is a Philippine paper focusing on communal irrigation systems. Two other articles tackle conditions in Indonesia, one discusses agricultural households' food demands, and the other is on income inequality of oil palm plasma farmers. Another Philippine paper studies the technical efficiency and social capital in tilapia production, while the final paper discusses a transformative learning ground-up approach to sustainable development in Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

First published in 2004, AJAD provides information and analysis on topics within the broad scope of agriculture and development. As the official journal of SEARCA, it publishes articles resulting from empirical, policy-oriented, or institutional development studies, as well as articles of perspectives on agriculture and development, political economy of rural development, and trade issues.

Regularly published twice a year in June and December, AJAD is indexed in the Emerging Sources Citation Index of the Web of Science, EBSCO Information Services, Research Papers in Economics, AgEcon Search, Socio-economic Research Portal for the Philippines, CAB Abstracts, ASEAN Citation Index, The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library, and Australian Business Deans Council.

SEARCA publications are a part of its broader knowledge management program that promotes a learning culture, knowledge creation, and knowledge sharing and use among key actors in agricultural and rural development, primarily in Southeast Asia. It aims to link science, practice, and policy toward food and nutrition security and rural poverty reduction primarily in the region.

AJAD accepts submissions throughout the year through the submission portal https://ajad.searca.org and all articles published in AJAD may be downloaded for free from the same link. Print editions may be purchased—intents may be emailed to . Electronic notifications for new issues may also be subscribed to by registering to https://bit.ly/AJAD-subscribe.