THE Bulacan Agricultural State College (BASC) conducted its Lakbay Aral for graduate students at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) to benchmark the center's programs and research undertakings.
The BASC visitation trip on April 13, 2023 was led by Rael Tejada, BASC research office director and Federated Graduate Studies Student Association president.
According to Tejada, the BASC conducted the Lakbay Aral at SEARCA to expand the graduate students' knowledge and information on Southeast Asian research outputs related to agricultural and rural development.
During the benchmarking activity, the BASC denizens were welcomed by Dr. Nur Azura Binti Adam, SEARCA deputy director for programs.
"I am happy that we are one with our goal of making agriculture and farming sexy," Adam said, highlighting the importance of disseminating the agricultural research and experimentation findings.
"With this benchmarking activity, SEARCA hopes to inspire BASC to do more, be better, and contribute to bringing technological changes in agriculture through research that is very much aligned with our eleventh five-year plan of Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation or Attain," she added.
The benchmarking activity comprised presentations of SEARCA's core programs on its research undertakings.
The graduate students were toured around the SEARCA Hub for Agriculture and Rural Innovation for the Next Generation called Sharing Facilities, which houses various agriculture products and innovations in Southeast Asia.
They were also given knowledge products and encouraged to submit their research works and publish them in the Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development or AJAD, the Center's international refereed journal.
On behalf of BASC President Dr. Jameson Tan, Tejada thanked SEARCA for the warm welcome and accommodation to their faculty members and graduate students.
"BASC looks forward to learning not only from the best research practices of SEARCA in the region but also in participating in research grants, scholarships and other international opportunities," he added.
A higher educational institution in the province of Bulacan, BASC offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in agriculture and is recognized as a Level 3 college based on the Association of Accrediting Chartered Colleges and Universities of the Philippines or Aaccup.
Earlier this year, a BASC delegation led by Tan paid a courtesy call to Gregorio and other SEARCA officials.
During their visit, the BASC delegation was briefed by the Education and Collective Learning Department on the core programs of SEARCA.
The delegation was provided with information materials and an overview of the Commission on Higher Education-funded Leveling-Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Resources or LevelUPHEI AFAR project.
Also in March 2021, SEARCA and BASC signed a memorandum of understanding to engage students and faculty members in agriculture research and extension activities.
