SEARCA News

His Excellency Koshikawa Kazuhiko, the new Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines, visited the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 6 March 2021. He was received by Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, and Mr. Joselito G. Florendo, SEARCA Deputy Director for Administration. With them were top officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) System and UP Los Baños (UPLB) as well as members of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Philippines who all gathered at SEARCA for the UPLB’s launch of the Jose Sotero Laurel III Professorial Chair in… Read more

Dr. Oudom Phonekhampheng was appointed President of the National University of Laos (NUOL) in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Previously, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture for more than 10 years and then the Vice President of NUOL since 2016. His research interests include sustainable agriculture and environment development, ichthyology and aquaculture, fish passage, and animal nutrition. Dr. Phonekhampheng took his Bachelor’s degree in Ichthyology at the Institute of Technology and Fishery, Astrakhan, Russia from 1983-1987. He completed his MS in Fish Culture and Fish Seeds at Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand through a DAAD-SEARCA Scholarship from 1993 to 1996… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines – The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) conducted its 24th SEARCA Online Learning and Virtual Engagement (SOLVE) webinar titled Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) through One Health Approach: Priority Actions for Best Practice Policies and Surveillance Innovations on 24 February 2021 via Zoom and Facebook Live. The presenters include Dr. Susan Noor, Senior Researcher at the Indonesian Centre for Veterinary Research and Development, Indonesian Agency for Agriculture Research and Development, Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture; Dr. Abbie Stephanie Uy, Veterinarian II of the National Veterinary Quarantine Services Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, Philippine… Read more

Dr. Felix M. Salas from Visayas State University (VSU) was awarded the SEARCA Regional Professorial Chair Grant in 2020 for his excellence and contribution in the field of Agricultural Chemistry. Currently, Dr. Salas is a Professor II at the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences. As part of his Regional Professorial Chair Grant, Dr. Salas conducted his public lecture on 26 February 2021 at Visayas State University which was streamed online via Zoom. He discussed about “Innovative Liquid Nutrient Formulations for Improved Yield and Chemical Characteristics of Horticultural Crops under an Aggregate Hydroponic System”.  Dr… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Sejong University in Seoul, Korea are jointly offering research scholarships to Southeast Asians to earn master’s and doctoral degrees. Applications for the Sejong University-SEARCA Joint Graduate Research Scholarship for Southeast Asian Countries will be accepted until 19 March 2021. The joint scholarship is open nationals of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. The aim is to strengthen the capacities of Southeast Asian scientists and researchers by enabling them to obtain master’s and doctoral degrees by research in… Read more

“I am reimagining the kind of ARD that the Southeast Asian countries deserve, the kind of agriculture sector we must leave behind for the future generations of Southeast Asians to come,” said Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, Director of the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). For a span of more than 50 years, SEARCA has been in the business of implementing programs and projects related to ARD in the Southeast Asia region. Its current role as a champion in molding farmers and farming families was revisited by Dr. Gregorio as he capped off the last… Read more

Steering a more partnership-driven organization committed in keeping with its mandate of strengthening ties towards Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation (ATTAIN), the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) renewed its partnership with the Oscar M. Lopez Center (OML Center) in a virtual ceremony held via Zoom on 23 February 2021. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, and Dr. Rodel D. Lasco, OML Center Executive Director, with Mr. Joselito G. Florendo, SEARCA Deputy Director for Administration, and Ms. Perpilili A. Tiongson, OML Center Associate Director, as witnesses… Read more

The Regional SEARCA Alumni Association (RSAA) virtually launched its book titled Methodologies Supportive of Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Natural Resources Management: Selected Cases in Southeast Asia, its first collaborative publication project among scholars across Southeast Asia, with support from SEARCA and the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), as well as other academic institutions in the region with which the authors are affiliated. The book project is the brainchild of its eventual editor, Dr. Inocencio Buot Jr. of UPLB, describing it as “a unique compendium, a scholarly account of peer reviewed, science-based, and replicable methodologies in Southeast Asia.”… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and APPGeese, Inc. mark another milestone in their partnership to modernize traditional farming and improve the livelihood of farmers with the virtual launch of AgriEX, a digital agriculture exchange platform that allows fair trade via farm-to-fork system, securing farmers their profit while serving their fresh goods to customers to form a healthy eating habit among Filipinos. Since October 2020, SEARCA, through its Emerging Innovation for Growth Department (EIGD), has worked with APPGeese, Inc. in coordinating with local government units (LGUs), meeting with leaders of farmer organizations, and visiting… Read more

LOS BAÑOS - The project management team (PMT) of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)-led project, “Upgrading the Calamansi Value Chain towards Improving the Calamansi Industry of Oriental Mindoro”, will conduct an online training on the identification of insect pests, beneficial insects, diseases of calamansi, and their management on 04 March 2021 via the Zoom platform. It is part of the project’s commitment to address the technical and market constraints confronting the calamansi industry of Oriental Mindoro. The PMT saw the need to capacitate the nursery operators, farmers, technical staff from the agriculture… Read more