SEARCA News

Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines – For the second time this year, selected higher education institutions (HEIs) took on the challenge to enhance their relevance and competitiveness in the 21st century by participating in the “Leadership Development Program for HEIs (LDP HEIs) in the Philippines.” Organized and implemented by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in partnership with The HEAD Foundation in Singapore, this second run of the program was held from 4 October to 29 November 2021 via the SEARCA Online Learning and Virtual Engagements (SOLVE) platform. The program is designed under efforts… Read more

A joint undertaking between the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Center of Excellence on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Nutrition (CE SAIN), in partnership with the Kansas State University (KSU) and the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB), conducted the 1st and 2nd sessions of the e-training program titled, Trainers’ Training for Integrating the School-plus-Home Gardens cum Biodiversity Enhancement Enterprise in ATPs and Mini-ATPs in Cambodia (SHGBEE-Cam) on 1 and 8 December 2021, respectively, via the platform, Zoom. This collaboration generally aims to boost the capacity of teachers and local government… Read more

The Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) will hold its 34th UC Executive Board Meeting online on 16-17 December 2021, hosted by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. The Consortium is anticipating the virtual attendance of representatives from its Regular Members, Kasetsart University (KU), Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), IPB University (IPB), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and Universitas Brawijaya (UB). Also attending the board meeting are the two UC Associate Members, Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI) and National Taiwan University (NTU), and Affiliate Member, University of British Columbia… Read more

National Taiwan University (NTU) hosted the 7th UC Graduate Forum on 2-3 December 2021 with the theme, "Agricultural Adaptation Strategies for Coping with Climate Change." The event was attended by select graduate students from member universities, NTU, IPB University, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Kasetsart University (KU), Universitas Brawijaya (UB), and Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI). New Affiliate Members, Visayas State University (VSU), Central Luzon State University (CLSU), and Maejo University (MjU) also sent their students to join the forum, which marks their 1st activity with the UC. The… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) collaborated with the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (CoSAI) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN Asia) for a regional discourse titled "Paying for Nature and Society: Dialogue on Innovative Financial Mechanisms to Promote Equity and Sustainability in Agriculture – Asia." Held on 16 November 2021, the virtual dialogue is second in a series of regional discussions across the globe to understand how to incentivize farmers to protect and restore nature. Dr. Dindo Campilan, Asia Regional Director and Oceania… Read more

“Change is inevitable, we have to live with it. Leaders should anticipate the change. Be more creative, innovative, and work toward overcoming the negative effect of that change…deal with it,” thus said, Dr. Emerlinda R. Roman, SEARCA Senior Fellow, Professor Emeritus, and former President of the University of the Philippines, and one of the Resource Speakers during the 37th SOLVE webinar on SOLVE Leadership Challenges: Redefining   Effective Leaders for Tomorrow. Held on 24 November 2021 via the SOLVE platform, the webinar formed part of SEARCA’s 55th Anniversary Celebration with the theme “Sowing Seeds of Innovation for Agricultural Transformation.” Dr. Roman… Read more

SEARCA, through the Graduate Scholarship and Institutional Development Unit (GSIDU) and the Regional SEARCA Alumni Association (RSAA), organized an Alumni Forum on Transformational Leadership on 25 November 2021. The forum celebrated SEARCA’s 55th Anniversary and discussed the experiences and reflections of selected SEARCA alumni on what it takes to be a transformational leader. Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, welcomed everyone to the forum and thanked the alumni’s continuous support for over six decades. SEARCA considers its scholars to be the seeds that were sown and are continuously bearing fruits of goodwill and higher learning as alumni. They are SEARCA’s… Read more

A webinar jointly organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), through its Education and Collective Learning Department-Training for Development Unit (ECLD-T4DU), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlighted the need to raise awareness on the role that Nature-based Solutions (NbS) play in enhancing ecosystem services and addressing global societal challenges such as climate change, food security, and disaster risk, among others.  Held on 23 November 2021 via Zoom and Facebook Live, the webinar titled “Nature-based Solutions: Working with nature to help address some of society’s most pressing challenges” formed… Read more

MANILA, Philippines – Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Professor at Institute of Crops Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños, is one of the recipients of the 6th Filipino Faces of Biotechnology (FFOB) conferred by the Philippine Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office (DA-BPO). The award is given to outstanding Filipino individuals who have greatly contributed and played a significant role in the advancement of biotechnology in the Philippines and beyond. Agriculture Undersecretary Fermin D. Adriano opened the awarding ceremony by emphasizing the essence of recognizing… Read more

Reliving the past, celebrating the present, and looking forward to the future of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), current and former partners, alumni, scholars, grantees, officials and staff gathered together in a virtual culminating program of the Center’s 55th Anniversary held on 26 November 2021 via Zoom and Facebook Live. SEARCA was established by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) in 1966 as one of its centers of excellence in Southeast Asia. It is hosted by the Philippine government on the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) campus in… Read more