Thirty-eight pre-university students of Pusat Asasi Sains Universiti Putra Malaysia (ASPutra) participate in the Sowing Seeds agriculture career orientation program organized by SEARCA.
SERDANG, Malaysia—The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), through its Partnerships Unit (PU), together with Pusat Asasi Sains Universiti Putra Malaysia (ASPutra), organized a Malaysia edition of the Sowing Seeds: Cultivating Youth's Future in Agriculture, a career orientation program for senior high school and pre-university students on 10 May 2024. The program is under the Center's banner youth initiative, Young Forces for Agricultural Innovation (#Y4AGRI).
ASPutra, otherwise known as the Centre for Foundation Studies in Science of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), is the country's only institution offering a pre-degree program on basic studies in agriculture, agro-bio, and science to students with basic knowledge and strong interest in the field.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marina Mohd. Top @ Mohd. Tah formally welcomes SEARCA to ASPutra.In her opening message, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marina Mohd. Top @ Mohd. Tah, ASPutra director, welcomed 38 second-semester students to the activity and the SEARCA delegation led by Dr. Nur Azura Binti Adam, deputy director for programs and former dean of UPM Faculty of Agriculture, with Ms. Sharon Malaiba, PU head and #Y4AGRI lead. Dr. Marina emphasized the relevance of agriculture, especially now in the face of challenges in food security and rising food prices. She further enjoined the students to support today's current technologies and innovations to revolutionize the farming practices in the country. Dr. Marina also hoped that through SEARCA Sowing Seeds, the students would recognize agriculture's immense potential as a career path and that its role transcends growing crops and extends to nurturing communities, contributing to global food security, and safeguarding food in the present and future.
ASPutra Director, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marina Mohd. Top @ Mohd. Tah (third from left), together with deputy directors Prof. Madya Dr. Noor Azmi Shaharuddin and Dr. Muhammad Alif Mohammad Latif, give welcome tokens to the SEARCA team (from left to right): Dr. Nur Azura Adam, Ms. Sharon Malaiba, Ms. Loise Ann Carandang, Ms. Leah Lyn Domingo, and Ms. Corinta Guerta
Prof. Madya Dr. Noor Azmi Shaharuddin, deputy director for Academic and Research and Dr. Muhammad Alif Mohammad Latif, deputy director for Student Affairs & Industry and Community Relations, as well as faculty and staff, all of ASPutra, joined Dr. Marina and the students in the activity. Meanwhile, joining Dr. Nur and Ms. Malaiba as part of the SEARCA team were Ms. Leah Lyn Domingo, public relations specialist, and Ms. Loise Ann Carandang, senior associate for communications, both of PU; and Ms. Corinta Guerta, technical advisor, Office of the Director.
Dr. Nur Azura Adam serves as a guest lecturer and delivers an interactive and informative session on technologies and careers in agriculture.
The Sowing Seeds orientation in Malaysia featured Dr. Nur as the guest lecturer. She briefed the students on SEARCA's mandate and offerings. In addition, she showcased some of the cutting-edge technologies and the doors they open for students to venture into agriculture and related fields. The orientation also included an interactive session that enabled the activity to maximize the students' engagement, allowing them to better appreciate the career and agribusiness opportunities the sector offers.
Toward the end of the session, an overview of SEARCA's graduate scholarship program was presented to highlight the higher education opportunities that await the students after they finish their bachelor's degrees.
Ms. Sharon Malaiba gives a closing message to the Malaysian youth participants.
Ms. Malaiba expressed gratitude to ASPutra for their warm welcome and highlighted other youth activities that the students may be interested in participating in under the leadership of the Center's internal youth empowerment initiative, the SEARCA Youth Ambassadors Platform (SAYAP).
"You are the seeds that will bring bountiful harvest of change," she added, underscoring the potential impact that the youth hold, especially in the future of the agriculture sector.
This session was the second offering of the Sowing Seeds program, which will be held across the Southeast Asian region.