SEARCA in the News

After a 5-year lull due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Provincial Government of Bohol is hosting the resumption of the Philippine Farm Tourism Conference set at The Bellevue Resort in Panglao from February 26 to 28. Now on its 7th edition, the international event is organized by the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST) and supported by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) based in Los Baños, Laguna. Themed, "Farm Tourism: Consciousness for Healthy Living and New Experiences," the conference will showcase lessons from the pandemic, and share best practices which seeks to… Read more

IN collaboration with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Graduate School and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) organized a workshop on coping strategies for mental health at the SEARCA headquarters in College, Los Baños, Laguna on Jan. 9, 2024. According to SEARCA director Glenn Gregorio, the workshop titled "New Year, New You: Coping Strategies to Improve Mental Health" also highlighted the collaboration between UPLB and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). UPLB and UPM are both members of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resource (UC)… Read more

FIFTY-TWO faculty and staff of Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) joined cross-visits to institutions in Singapore and Indonesia recently conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)-headquartered Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). According to SEARCA director Dr. Glenn Gregorio, the cross-visits were part of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd)-funded project Leveling-Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Resources (LevelUPHEI AFAR) implemented by SEARCA. Gregorio said the project aims to upgrade the institutional capacities of the State Universities and Colleges-Association of College of Agriculture in the Philippines Inc… Read more

Studies on challenges to agriculture in Southeast Asia include one that analyzes the current concerns surrounding a potential rice crisis due to attacks on the infrastructure of Ukraine's food export system and the onset of a severe El Niño in Asian rice-producing regions. The paper, titled "Back in the Soup: Now What?" by food security expert and Harvard University professor emeritus C. Peter Timmer examines the global rice market's outlook as of early September 2023. Timmer's paper is among the studies published in the December 2023 edition of the Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development (AJAD). AJAD is an internationally… Read more

UNIVERSITY of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) announced the latest six recipients and projects of the Grants for Research toward Agricultural Innovative Solutions (GRAINS) in five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio said the six GRAINS recipients from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines received grants ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 each. Gregorio said the projects tackle farming challenges through emerging solutions, such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things or IoT devices, satellite technologies and digital agriculture. He said the grant recipients… Read more

THE University of the Philippines Los Baños secured a 750,000 euro grant from Erasmus+ for the Postgraduate Micro-Credentials for Food Security and Climate Change project. UPLB is among the higher education institutions in the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources. Led by Kasetsart University, the initiative seeks to provide learner-centered short-term courses through micro-credentials and address critical issues related to food security and climate change. "Under the PMC FSCC project, these institutions aim to develop and pilot-test postgraduate micro-credentials for food security and climate change through modular learning, establish a roadmap for the implementation… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), located at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), has unveiled the current recipients of the Grants for Research toward Agricultural Innovative Solutions (GRAINS). A total of six innovators, hailing from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines, have been awarded these grants, which vary from $10,000 to $15,000. Each grantee is actively involved in projects addressing farming challenges through the application of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, satellite technologies, and digital agriculture. Unveiling the Grantees and their Projects To introduce… Read more

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna (PIA) — A digital platform launched by the Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Studies and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and AppGeese Inc., a Philippine socio-technoprise company, continues to make headway in assisting farmers in Liliw, Laguna access broader markets. For much of our country's history, Filipino farmers like the crop growers of Liliw Upland Farmers Marketing Cooperative (LUFAMCO), tend to operate as individuals. Despite belonging to a cooperative, farmers sold their produce individually and restricted their market within their town's vicinity or to neighboring communities. In 2020, the LUFAMCO members, with the help of… Read more

The following link will take you to INQUIRER.net:Veggie growers bloom in the digital markethttps://business.inquirer.net/440971/veggie-growers-bloom-in-the-digital-market… Read more

In the scenic town of Liliw in Laguna, upland farmers are reaping the benefits of a transformative digital agriculture project initiated by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Studies and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in collaboration with AppGeese Inc., a socio-technoprise. Prior to their involvement in the SEARCA project, Liliw's upland farmers, despite being part of the Liliw Upland Farmers Marketing Cooperative (LUFAMCO), operated independently, limiting their market to the local vicinity. However, since the project's inception in 2020, the farmers have embraced a digital platform that has reshaped the way they market their diverse harvest, including vegetables like… Read more