SEARCA News

In pursuit of becoming the champion of excellence in agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), a non-profit organization that helps empower rural communities in Southeast Asia, Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. Signatories to the agreement were Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, and Ms. Emilita Monville-Oro, IIRR Acting Regional Director for Asia and concurrent Country Director for the Philippines. The signing was witnessed by Mr. Joselito G. Florendo, SEARCA Deputy Director for… Read more

Recognizing the important role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in knowledge production and generation of innovative solutions to address the challenges in agriculture and forestry, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), together with the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) and the French Embassy in Manila, organized a three-part webinar series to kick-off the Online Training Workshop on Modeling for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on the Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Agent-Based Modeling Approach: Agri-Forestry Technology for Ensuring Agricultural Resilience (GAMA-AFTER). Hosted under the SEARCA Online Learning and Virtual… Read more

Despite the current limitations brought by the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bulacan Agricultural State College (BASC) on 29 March 2021 via Zoom. Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, and Dr. Jameson H. Tan, BASC President, signed the MOU between their institutions with Mr. Joselito G. Florendo, SEARCA Deputy Director for Administration, and Dr. Susan C. Santos, BASC Vice President for Research, Extension, Production and Development, as witnesses. BASC is the lone higher agricultural educational institution in the province of… Read more

The Protect Wildlife Activity (PWA) is a wildlife conservation initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) covering several biodiversity hotspots in the Philippines. As the program comes to close, a final performance evaluation is deemed important as the results could help inform similar natural resource conservation activities at present or in the future. The results can also contribute to the growing body of evidence on good practices and a better understanding of the enabling and hindering factors in biodiversity conservation and anti-wildlife trafficking. It is in this light that the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) will conduct its first online Training-Workshop on National Roadmap Development for the initial batch of participants as part of the national technical assistance component on road mapping under the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-funded Project Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the ASEAN Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns, or ATMI-ASEAN, on 7-9 April 2021. The three-day training-workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Roehlano M. Briones, a Senior Research Fellow of Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and the Lead Technical Consultant of the… Read more

SEARCA, Philippines – The SEARCA Seed Fund for Research and Training (SFRT) Program held its Mid-Term Forum via Zoom on 12 March 2021. The five grantees from the latest cycle and their research team members participated in the event. This current batch of SFRT grantees and their teams have been implementing their respective projects under extremely challenging circumstances. The pandemic has resulted to changes in plans, methodologies, timelines, among others, and the pace with which projects are being done. Though the grantees have mostly upheld their commitment to their contractual obligations as best they could, it was deemed necessary to… Read more

The SEARCA Regional Professorial Chair Grantees for AY 2020-2021 have been conducting their public lectures online since last year due to restrictions imposed by the pandemic. The grant was awarded on 04 May 2020 to six outstanding experts in the academe from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand, Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) and Visayas State University (VSU) in the Philippines. UPM and KU are founding members of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) with SEARCA serving as Secretariat. VSU became an affiliate member of the UC this year together with… Read more

The Southeast Asian Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) have formalized their institutional cooperation to undertake joint programs and projects on areas of common interest and exchange knowledge resources. Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director, and Dr. Tarifa Al Zaabi, ICBA Acting Director General, signed the memorandum of understanding between their institutions on 15 March 2021 in a virtual signing ceremony witnessed by key ICBA and SEARCA officials and staff. Dubai-based ICBA is a non-profit organization that works in over 30 countries to strengthen agricultural productivity in marginal and… Read more

The International Women’s Month pays attention to women whose stories may otherwise remain unheard. One such story is that of Mary Ann P. Bautista, or “Meann,” the lone lady driver at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). Driving for the big boss Meann is a Marketing Management graduate of Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba. As a marketing practitioner, she had a small business while she worked as a driver for an international organization. She later became a full-time manager at a supermarket in Bay, Laguna, but her heart seemed to be… Read more

The European Commission's Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) finished its evaluation of the Joint Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change (MS FSCC) program developed by the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC). The project, funded by the ERASMUS+ Capacity Building for Higher Education program from 2016-2019, is undergoing institution among partner universities despite the restrictions brought by the pandemic. EACEA noted that the project team “demonstrated to be committed in developing a new joint Master programme.” The evaluation also recognized that “the consortium has fulfilled its objectives and… Read more