SEARCA in the News

THE GROWTH of the agriculture sector is expected to be flat to lower over the remainder of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s term, according to industry groups and experts. Mr. Duterte will deliver his sixth and final State of the Nation Address on July 26 and is due to end his term in June 2022. Calixto V. Chikiamco, Foundation for Economic Freedom president, estimated that “for 2021, (agriculture output) might be flat or even negative, depending on further disruptions caused by the pandemic lockdowns, control of the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) and adverse weather. In the first quarter, agricultural… Read more

THE Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has expressed support to the call against giving any subsidy to vessels or operators engaged in illegal fishing. SEARCA released this statement on the "revised draft consolidated chair text on World Trade Organization's negotiating group on rules-fisheries subsidies." According to SEARCA director Dr. Glenn Gregorio, recognizing the importance of conserving coastal and marine resources as further emphasized in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14: Life below water), they support the call that "no member shall grant or maintain any subsidy to a vessel or operator… Read more

THE Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR)-funded Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) has produced good results, particularly among stakeholders in Lamut in Ifugao, San Fernando in Camarines Sur and San Luis in Batangas. A recent forum jointly organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the DA-BAR narrated successful and motivating stories that were outcomes of CPAR projects. According to Dr. Rico Ancog, SEARCA program lead for Emerging Innovation for Growth, the project assessed the overall implementation of the CPAR program and captured the insights of the implementers, proponents and the… Read more

THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has recently released the June 2021 issue of its Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD). The journal features studies on policy and institutional structures and contextualized assessment tools that promote sustainable agriculture and food security. AJAD is an international refereed journal listed in nine recognized indices, such as the Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index and EBSCO, a provider of research databases, e-journals, magazine subscriptions, e-books and discovery service to libraries of all kinds. AJAD provides evidence-based information and analysis on topics within the broad… Read more

The Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD) published by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has released its June 2021 issue featuring studies on policy and institutional structures and contextualized assessment tools that promote sustainable agriculture and food security. AJAD is an international refereed journal listed in nine recognized indices, such as the Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index and EBSCO. AJAD provides evidence-based information and analysis on topics within the broad scope of agriculture and development, said Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director. He explained that AJAD publishes articles resulting from empirical, policy-oriented… Read more

Rice is the staple food of Filipino, along with fish. “If we did not have rice, our deepest comfort food, we would probably feel less Filipino,” the late food columnist Doreen Fernandez once said. On average, Filipino consume 114-120 kilograms of rice per capita per year. That’s almost double the world average of 65 kilograms per capita per year, according to Dr. Eufemio Rasco, Jr., former director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).  What most Filipinos don’t know is that rice fields are one of the major contributors of methane in the atmosphere. The journal Science reported that the atmospheric concentration… Read more

Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) berupaya mengembangkan berbagai kepakaran pertanian di lingkup Asia Tenggara. Salah satu program SEARCA adalah SEARCA Regional Professorial Chair Grants. Hibah ini diberikan kepada pakar di bidang inovasi pertanian yang memiliki kontribusi tinggi terhadap teknologi pertanian atau kebijakan Agripreneurship. Salah satu penerima penghargaan ini adalah Prof Khaswar Syamsu, Guru Besar Departemen Teknologi Industri Pertanian, Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian, IPB University. Pakar Rekayasa Bioproses IPB University ini merupakan dosen ketiga dari Indonesia yang mendapat penghargaan ini. Prof Khaswar menjelaskan bahwa SEARCA Regional Professorial Chair merupakan pengakuan dan apresiasi untuk profesor di… Read more

International think tank Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has backed the Philippine government on its stand at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and harmful fisheries subsidies. On Tuesday, SEARCA Director and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Gregorio issued his official comments and notes regarding the revised draft of the consolidated chair text on WTO’s negotiating group on rules, particularly on fisheries subsidies. “Recognizing the importance of conserving coastal and marine resources, as further emphasized in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14: Life below water), we support the… Read more

TRANSFORMING rice farms to be more resilient to climate change needs more science and technology (S&T), according to an intergovernmental treaty organization, based at the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna province. Director Glenn Gregorio of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture noted this during a series of webinars, dubbed "Pagtugon sa mga Hamon sa Pagbabago sa Klima" and organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Philippines and The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service Foundation Inc. S&T will enable "transfarming" to produce climate change-ready crop varieties as well as quality seeds, mechanization and digitized farming, and nutritional revolution in… Read more

“Breastfeeding is essentially the first food of the human body,” said Dr. Maria Asuncion Silvestre, president of Kalusugan ng Mag-Ina, Inc. (KMI).  She said those words during the online forum which revisited current health systems through first-hand accounts of experts and grassroots community workers on pediatric education, re-lactation, and optimal infant feeding practices. According to Dr. Silvestre, breastfeeding is not just about the product that is the mother’s milk, but also the process wherein the mother serves as the primary food producer. She pointed out that the first food for the first 1,000 days of an infant starts in utero… Read more