SEARCA in the News

LAGUNA, Oct. 29 -- The second virtual session of the Third ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity or ACB 2020 on Tuesday drew over a hundred representatives from government, private sector, academia and non-government agencies from the ASEAN. The attending experts weighed in with their experiences and views on biodiversity mainstreaming relevant to the Region's context. The meeting held on Zoom and broadcast live on Facebook focused on mainstreaming of biodiversity, or the process of embedding biodiversity considerations into policies and practices of sectors that rely and have an impact on it. Keynoted by Oliver Hillel, programme officer of the Secretariat of… Read more

In a recent Mindanao-wide webinar, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) introduced "omics" as an emerging field of scientific technology that involves the study of molecular interactions found in living organisms. During the webinar, Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA director, discussed the importance of integrating omics in crop breeding program from variety development up to commercialization. The webinar titled "Omics Research, Moving Past Pandemics: Omics in Agriculture" organized by the Philippine Genome Center Mindanao focused on potential applications, challenges and solutions of omics technologies in mitigating impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic… Read more

Along with the wave of changes that this new normal has been bringing, innovative technology solutions also take the center stage in the Innovation Olympics 2.0, an "agri hackathon" for young innovators to rise up in developing innovative solutions for the farming sector of the country. "Through the Innovation Olympics, we hope to introduce technological innovations to improve vegetable production, and to inspire the youth to consider farming as a professional goal and be ambassadors of modern day agriculture," said Henk Hermans, General Manager of East-West Seed Philippines. With this year's theme "Precision Agriculture for Small-Scale Vegetable Farming", Innovation Olympics… Read more

Integrating omics is important in crop breeding program from variety development up to commercialization. This was discussed by Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), at the recent Mindanao-wide webinar on "Omics Research, Moving Past Pandemics: Omics in Agriculture." Omics is an emerging field of scientific technology that involves the study of molecular interactions found in living organisms, Gregorio explained. Organized by the Philippine Genome Center Mindanao, the webinar focused on potential applications, challenges and solutions of omics technologies in mitigating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a SEARCA… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Oct 23 (PIA) --Institutional and thought leaders will convene in a Stakeholders Forum organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) to strategize together for a transformative agricultural and rural development (ARD) in Southeast Asia in the new normal brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. To be held virtually on 28 October 2020, the forum will discuss the status of ARD in Southeast Asia by showcasing and highlighting strategic lessons from institutional experiences, both in the science and practice of ARD in the region, in the past five years. Dr… Read more

TO help Filipino farmers discard their obsolete ways, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has unveiled a new program, called Emerging Innovation for Growth (EIG). According to SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio, EIG is powered by SEARCA's "innovEIGhts" model of fostering collaboration among the academe, industry and government. EIG is the flagship program in SEARCA's 11th Five-Year Plan that is focused on "Accelerating Transformation through Agricultural Innovation," or ATTAIN. "The challenging task of [weaning away] our farmers from obsolete ways of farming that is limited to a production perspective toward an agribusiness mindset in… Read more

An Emerging Innovation for Growth (EIG) Program powered by the "SEARCA innovEIGhts" model of open collaboration for academe-industry-government partnerships was launched on October 14. At the virtual launch held virtually via Facebook and Zoom, Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio of Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) said: "The current situation has given us more opportunity to highlight the importance of agriculture. Moreover, technology and innovation, especially digitalization in agriculture, is more than ever crucial in the time of COVID-19." He noted the challenging task of ushering the farmers from obsolete ways of farming, limited to… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Oct 13 (PIA) --The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) have jointly organized an online "Higher Education Institutions' Training-Workshop on Research Project Development for Agriculture 4.0" to be held on October 12-13, 2020. A total of 88 faculty members from 37 colleges and universities across the country and key staff of CHED and the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) will participate in the training-workshop. The training will be conducted via the SEARCA Online Learning and Virtual Engagement (SOLVE) platform, which… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and startup company APPGeese Inc. have partnered to develop a pilot digital agriculture platform in Laguna and Quezon. The project will be undertaken by SEARCA through its Emerging Innovation for Growth Program. Rico Ancog, SEARCA EIG program lead, said the institution wants to build a culture of open collaboration and harness emerging innovations for growth and resilience of farming communities and agriculture systems. SEARCA will identify the pilot sites and introduce the project to the communities and local government in the areas selected. It will also recommend… Read more

Masbate Rep. Elisa "Olga" Kho has cited the importance of animal biotechnology in improving the health and welfare of animals and in ensuring the country's food security. The chairperson of the Committee on Rural Development said the use of animal biotechnology should be promoted in the country, as it would help equip the Philippines deal with different diseases afflicting animals, including the African Swine Fever (ASF) and Avian Flu. "Animal biotechnology is very important to prevent diseases among our animals and to make them resilient especially those we are slaughtering for our consumption, using this technology make them fat and… Read more