SEARCA News

LOS BAÑOS, Philippines – Aster growers in Los Baños, Laguna will benefit from a new community gardens project launched by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) on 7 October 2020. SEARCA will establish community gardens in Barangay Bayog, Los Baños, where most of the town’s aster farms are located, to enable the flower farmers  to grow good-quality food for their consumption and as an alternative source of income now that there is little demand for aster because of the COVID-19 pandemic. SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio explained that during the stricter nationwide… Read more

The Governing Board (GB) of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) convened for the first time in a virtual meeting on 28 September 2020. The GB is the highest policymaking body of SEARCA composed of representatives from the 11 member countries of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). The GB defines the general policy guidelines for the Center in matters of staff and scholar recruitment, funding and business procedures, use of the Center’s facilities, and the establishment of priorities for graduate education, training, and research. The 68th SEARCA GB Meeting was… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with APPGeese, Inc., a start-up company based in Pasig, Philippines, to develop a pilot digital agriculture platform in the provinces of Laguna and Quezon, Philippines. Signatories to the one-year agreement were Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director and Mr. Raymund D. Austria, Executive Founder of APPGeese, Inc. The signing was witnessed by SEARCA Deputy Director Mr. Joselito G. Florendo and Mr. Antonio Rulloda, Executive Director of APPGeese, Inc. Others in attendance were Mr. Sidney Alonzo and Mr. Rafael Tabunar of APGeese… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), through its Emerging Innovation for Growth Department (EIGD), conducted a virtual Policy Forum on 26 August 2020 via Zoom platform to present its major recommendations on strategies for effective implementation of the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) Program of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR). The forum participants were the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) Executive Committee members as well as representatives from different DA regional research offices. DA-BAR commissioned SEARCA to conduct the project titled “Building Up from the Gains: Lessons from and Improvement… Read more

Dr. William D. Dar, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Philippines, visited SEARCA on 18 September 2020. He was accompanied by his colleagues at the DA, namely: Assistant Secretary Noel O. Reyes and Dr. Fermin Adriano. They were received by Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, SEARCA Director; Mr. Joselito G. Florendo, Deputy Director for Administration; Dr. Maria Cristeta N. Cuaresma; Program Head for Education and Collective Learning; Dr. Pedcris M. Orencio, Program Head for Research and Thought Leadership; Dr. Rico C. Ancog, Operations Consultant for Emerging Innovation for Growth; and Dr. Romeo V. Labios, Operations Consultant for Partnerships. They discussed… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture announced the winners of the Youth COVIDeo Contest in a Virtual Awarding Ceremony held on 2 October 2020 via Zoom. Out of the 10 finalists, the panel of judges hailed Marcelino Padilla from Northern Samar, Philippines as the grand winner followed by the 2nd prize winner, Myka Fragata from Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. The 3rd prize and the Popularity Award (Most Facebook Reactions) was presented to Benson Cariñaga from Albay, Philippines. "We are happy to see through your videos the different practices in growing food with your family and… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Two DAAD-SEARCA scholars participated in the first phase of the Summer School on Project Development for Knowledge Transfer 2020 from 31 August to 12 September 2020 organized by the International Small Enterprise Promotion and Training (SEPT) Program of Leipzig University in Germany. Ms. Edchelle Flores from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and Mr. Pengly Koun from Kasetsart University (KU) were selected to join 19 other participants from 13 different countries in Africa. Edchelle is currently taking her MS in Extension Education while Pengly is studying MS Agricultural Resources under the DAAD In-Country/In-Region Scholarship… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the University of Computer Sciences Yangon (UCSY) in Myanmar, and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) have partnered to develop a cloud-based AgPractices&Domains platform. This project is an integrative system of information and modelling for recommendations on domains of agricultural practices and technologies. It aimed to improve and build the capacity of agriculture researchers in Myanmar and the Philippines in using data from different sources to target integrated pest and disease management options through the use of the platform. The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) funded… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) along with its private sector partner SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Company (SGV) successfully conducted the Inception Workshop for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) project "Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Value Chains in the Philippines" on 11 September 2020 via Zoom. A total of 44 participants composed of Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) officials and staff and executives of private firms from the logistics and lending industry participated in the online workshop. The draft Inception report of the project submitted to ADB on 10 August 2020 outlines… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Dr. Karen Joyce G. Cayamanda was formally appointed by the UP Board of Regents as ad interim Vice Chancellor for Administration of University of the Philippines Mindanao effective 1 September 2020. Dr. Cayamanda took her PhD in Development Studies at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and was a recipient of the SEARCA PhD Research Scholarship. Prior to this, she took her BA and MA Communication Arts degree in the same institution. Upon graduation, Dr. Cayamanda first served as University Research Associate I in UPLB working on architectural forms of Laguna and "Rituals and… Read more