SEARCA in the News

A Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) professorial chair awardee has recently conducted a public lecture on wild edible mushrooms at the RET Amphitheatre of Central Luzon State University (CLSU). Known as the man of science in mushroom farming in the Philippines, Dr. Renato Reyes, CLSU vice president for Academic Affairs delivered his Professorial Chair Lecture on "Recent advances in the domestication and mykopharming of wild edible mushrooms in the Philippines for the bio-functional food industry." Reyes, who continuously developed innovative technologies for mushrooms to be sustainable and relevant, highlighted in his presentation the… Read more

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is emboldening the all-female students of the Balete Family Farm School, Inc. (BFFS) in Batangas in a learning event that will enable them to refine the business plans they developed as part of their Family Enterprise Project and gain additional learning on agripreneurship. BFFS has the distinction of being the only all-female family farm school in Asia. The BFFS teaching and administrative staff as well as students are all female. All the students are in junior high school. “In view of this, the one-day learning activity to… Read more

Students of Japan-based universities visited the Philippine-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) to tour the SEARCA Hub for Agriculture and Rural Innovation for the Next Generation (Sharing) facilities. Dr. Glenn Gregorio, SEARCA director, said the Japanese students were from Japan's Nagasaki University (NU) in Nagasaki and Kobe University (KU) in Hyogo. Gregorio said the visit was part of the course, which was designed to engage the Japanese students in activities that would expand their knowledge of Philippine agriculture and Filipino culture. On March 1, 2023, seven NU students visited SEARCA. They were accompanied… Read more

THE Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has reaffirmed its partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) through its School-Plus-Home Gardens Project (S+HGP). SEARCA's S+HGP project team visited director Nenneth Alama of DepEd's Bureau of Learner Support Services at DepEd Central Office on February 28, 2023. During the meeting, program specialist Anna Gale Vallez of SEARCA's Research and Thought Leadership Department (RTLD) led the presentation of the current programs and activities of SEARCA's S+HGP in the Philippines. In 2016, the S+HGP was dubbed as Participatory Action Research on School and Community-Based Food and Nutrition… Read more

The following link will take you to INQUIRER.net:   25 nations to join world’s first green travel mart in PH https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1747381/25-nations-to-join-worlds-first-green-travel-mart-in-ph… Read more

The Philippines should aim to become one of the UN-World Trade Organization (UNWTO)’s “Best Tourism Villages”, said UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Programme Coordinator Antonio Lopez de Avila. During the tourism forum of the Southeast Asian Center for Graduate Study and Research in  Agriculture (SEARCA), Avila said being one of the Best Tourism Villages will help the country in sustaining the rural economy and cultural traditions, and support livelihood in the outskirts. “We can use tourism as a powerful driver. People are discovering new routes.  They do what they have not done before like harvest crops,” he said. Avila added… Read more

“I believe the launch of SciCommPH [Science Communicators Philippines Inc.] is an exciting first step and a significant milestone in efforts to promote science and innovation for national development.” Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio, director of Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca), made the statement in his keynote address during the launching of SciCommPh on March 10 at the BPI Foundation headquarters in Makati. SciCommPH is a duly registered nonstock, nonprofit organization composed of scientists, science journalists and broadcasters, and science communicators. It aims to promote science and technology as a game changer in social… Read more

A new science communicators group has been launched Friday, March 10, at the Bank of the Philippine Islands Foundation, Inc. headquarters in Makati City, with the aim of bridging the gap between science and society and communicating science researches. Science Communicators Philippines, Inc. (SciCommPH), a non-stock, non-profit organization duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is a newly established group comprising of Filipino science journalists, science communicators, science educators, and science enthusiasts, who are passionate about making science accessible and engaging to the public. The group, officially launched in a face-to-face event, brought together members from the Philippines… Read more

AgriPortal Advocates Philippines Inc. and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) have forged a partnership for sustainable agriculture. Signatories of the five-year accord were Dr. Glenn Gregorio, SEARCA director, and Dr. Junifen Gauuan, chairman of the AgriPortal Board of Trustees. Gregorio said SEARCA and AgriPortal have complementary objectives, and a mutual desire to collaborate in a number of areas of common interest such as education, training and research related to sustainable agriculture. Gregorio explained that under the partnership, SEARCA and AgriPortal will collaborate in promoting and disseminating planting and gardening of "Bahay Kubo"… Read more

To promote smart agriculture among farming youths, the Philippine-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in collaboration with the Dagatan Family Farm School (DFFS) conducted agri-innovation learning activities for this segment of society. SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio said a total of 54 student participants from the Barangay Dagatan, Lipa City-based DFFS visited and engaged in the center's learning activities in Los Baños, Laguna. The one-day agri-innovation learning activities for DFFS students were organized through SEARCA Partnerships Unit and Emerging Innovation for Growth Department. Two batches of DFFS students visited SEARCA for the activities. The… Read more