SEARCA in the News

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Cash prizes and regional recognition await photographers who can capture how food reaches the table, as the 20th SEARCA Photo Contest enters its final weeks. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) said the top winner will receive $1,000, second place $800, third place $500 and the SEARCA Center Director’s Choice $500. Winners will also receive certificates. The deadline for submission of entries is on Sept. 30 at 11:59 p.m. (GMT+8). It is open to all Southeast Asian nationals, including Filipinos. Entries must be submitted through photocontest.searca.org/2026. This year’s theme… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — A new policy brief from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) highlights how school feeding programs in Southeast Asia can serve two development goals at once: improving children's nutrition; and providing more dependable markets for smallholder farmers. The brief, titled "Integrating Smallholder Agriculture into School Feeding Programs: Addressing the Agri-Health Disconnect," examines how public spending on school meals can be connected to local agricultural development. It is based on cross-border research undertaken in Malaysia and Indonesia from April to May 2026 by Dr. Bima Indra, a medical doctor and… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines — The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture is inviting Filipinos to submit entries to its 20th SEARCA Photo Contest, themed “Food for All, Food for the Future,” before the Sept. 30, 2026, deadline. The competition opened July 16 and is open to Southeast Asian nationals, except SEARCA staff and their immediate family members. This year’s contest asks photographers to look at food long before it reaches the plate. It seeks images of the people and systems that grow, handle, protect, move, sell, prepare and share food, showing what keeps those systems… Read more

Southeast Asia’s food systems are being reshaped by climate risks, new technology and changing supply chains, creating a need to document how communities are adapting from farms and fishing grounds to markets and cities.The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is tapping photographers across the region for that visual record through the 20th SEARCA Photo Contest, themed “Food for All, Food for the Future.” Why it matters The initiative looks beyond traditional images of farms and agricultural landscapes to capture the people, infrastructure and systems that determine whether food remains safe, nutritious and accessible… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Twenty-six graduate scholars from six Southeast Asian countries have undergone training aimed to bring academic research beyond journal publication and into policy and broader use. The scholars — from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam — participated in the customized training, “Beyond the Journal Article: Scientific Writing for Policy and Wider Scholarly Engagement,” held recently at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). Organized under SEARCA’s Graduate-on-Time (GOT) program in partnership with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) College of Development Communication (CDC), the course provided… Read more

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), through its Faculty of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (FFANR), successfully co-organized the ASEAN Plant-Based Foods: Research and Policy Forum on 3-4 September 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand. The event was held in collaboration with the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Food Innopolis, and the Office of the National Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO), Thailand. The two-day forum brought together more than 140 researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and food-system stakeholders from across ASEAN and beyond to exchange knowledge, explore emerging opportunities, and strengthen regional collaboration on plant-based foods. Held… Read more

From rice paddies, coconut farms, fishing grounds, and upland plots to school and community gardens, public markets, cold storage, delivery routes, and urban farms, the Philippine food story is written by millions of hands before a meal reaches the table. LOS BAÑOS, Philippines — The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has opened the milestone 20th SEARCA Photo Contest under the theme “Food for All, Food for the Future.” The competition runs until 30 September 2026 and is open to all Southeast Asian nationals, including Filipinos. This year’s contest asks photographers to look at… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—Strengthening climate resilience and improving smallholder farm profitability require stronger support for high-value crops—including ube, or purple yam—diversified production systems, and science-based crop improvement, were emphasized during the recent Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Agriculture and Development Seminar Series. The seminar, themed “Resilient and Profitable Crops under Climate Change: What Works for Smallholder Farmers?” highlighted practical ways to help farmers respond to stronger typhoons, prolonged droughts, floods, El Niño, pest outbreaks, and rising production uncertainty. Director Joseph Manicad of the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) of the Philippine Department of… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna — Science and technology applications in supply chain transparency took center stage at a recent seminar organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). Held on Aug. 17, 2026, as part of SEARCA's Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS), the session featured Robert Meeder, strategic director and co-founder of The Institute for Future Creations, who spoke on “From Compliance to Competitive Advantage: Transparency, Digital Product Passports, and the Future of Responsible Trade.” The discussion focused on the European Union’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) system, whose registry was launched in July… Read more

Agriculture is often seen by many young people as a poor man’s job, a dirty job, or a profession with little promise for the future. When students are encouraged to enroll in agriculture-related courses, many would immediately decline, not always because they do not value food production, but because they have already formed a negative image of farming before they even experience it. In many rural communities, this perception is understandable. Young people see the struggles of farmers around them: the labor of preparing land, planting, managing pests, harvesting, and bringing produce to market, often for very little return. For… Read more