SEARCA News

LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA, Philippines – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Cambodia’s Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) continue its collaboration in the development of an internal quality assurance (IQA) system for RUA. The partnership agreement, which began in September 2020, entails SEARCA’s assistance in establishing a broad-based technical cooperation for the development of an IQA mentoring program for RUA. Specifically, the partnership provides technical support for the following: a) design of IQA strategy and standards for RUA and development of IQA manual; b) development and dissemination of self-assessment report (SAR) findings; c)… Read more

Laguna, Philippines - The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) met with the Municipal Planning and Development Office (MPDO) and the Municipal Nutrition Office (MNO) of Los Baños on 12 July 2022 to discuss the project on coping strategies to ensure food security among urban households during Covid-19. The project is being implemented by SEARCA in the Philippines, with Los Baños, Laguna as the representative site. This project is in collaboration with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Regional Center for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO-RECFON) and Regional Centre for Tropical Biology of SEAMEO (BIOTROP)… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) organized a training for the baseline assessment of the coconut industry in Quezon in collaboration with the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) on 5-6 July 2022 at the SEARCA Residence Hotel. The two-day program was participated in by student-interns from UPLB’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics (DAAE), as well as representatives from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) of Quezon and the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMA) of Catanauan. The training aimed for the participants to be familiarized with the survey tool… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Philippine-based Synergy Group Operations, Inc. (SGOI) formally signed a Letter of Agreement (LOA) on 1 July 2022 at SEARCA Headquarters. Under the LOA, SEARCA and Synergy committed to develop the capacity of teachers and local government officers by conducting a training on School Edible Landscaping for Entrepreneurship (SEL4E) project and provide information, skills, and understanding for properly disseminating the SEL4E concepts and values to students and communities in Rizal, Philippines. The project has two components, namely, the Trainers’ Training for School-plus Home Gardens Program (S+HGP) and… Read more

"Given the aggravating nature of climate change impacts, rice farming will increasingly rely on improved resilience to climate variability and extremes"—such is the premise of researchers from various international organizations on most of the papers headlining the June 2022 issue of the Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD). In the paper tackling rice-based landscapes, "climate smart agriculture" was introduced in "climate smart villages" in several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines. These villages initially focused on improving rice seed systems and found out that a community-based seed system could strengthen their resiliency to climate change impacts. For stronger efficacy… Read more

Los Banos, Philippines – Fifteen grantees of the Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT) Program gathered virtually via Zoom platform on 7 June 2022 for a year-end review.  The SFRT is one of the support programs offered by SEARCA which aims to provide start-up funds to researchers and scientists in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region who want to make significant contributions in research, development, and knowledge dissemination but are hindered by lack of funds. It also seeks to expand SEARCA’s reach in the areas of research, capacity building, and knowledge contribution on Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development… Read more

Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines – Under the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture’s (SEARCA) commitment to help boost the competitiveness of Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) in agriculture, fisheries, and natural resources, five online short-term training programs were successfully implemented and completed between October 2021 to May 2022. These training programs comprise the first half of the Short-term Training Programs component of the Leveling-Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) project that is funded by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for members of the State Universities and… Read more

CAMARINES SUR, Philippines – A delegation from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) conducted a strategizing partnership workshop with the Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc., (PSFI) and visited project sites of PSFI local partners on 25-27 May 2022. The activity aimed to pave the way to structure the partnership roadmap between PSFI and SEARCA in the next three years wherein SEARCA officers and staff conceptualized and planned proposed collaborations between the two organizations. The sessions comprised revisiting the status of partnerships, identifying common interest, long-term strategies and interventions leading to shared goals in the… Read more

Young farmers, researchers, and development practitioners involved in research, teaching, and extension projects in agriculture have convened in the SEARCA Training on Digital Storytelling for Young Agrinnovators on 21-22 April and 4 May 2022 via Zoom. As part of SEARCA’s Young Forces for Agricultural Innovation (#Y4AGRI) initiative, the training aimed to equip the youth participants in digital storytelling as an approach for agricultural extension and marketing. There were 28 youth stakeholders trained to produce online stories and multimedia content that promote agriculture-related technologies, research, or advocacy in digital platforms. “In this training, we challenged our youth participants to infuse creativity… Read more

SEARCA further facilitates capacity building activities and international linkages for Philippine higher education institutions through the Leveling Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) project funded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Three faculty members are ongoing with their mobility programs in partner universities from the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC). The LevelUPHEI AFAR project aims to upgrade the institutional capacities of the State Universities and Colleges – Association of Colleges of Agriculture in the Philippines, Inc. (SUC-ACAP, Inc.) and its 75 members. Faculty and… Read more