SEARCA in the News

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) said plant breeders should use technology that makes use of gene transformation to fast-track development of crops like the Golden Rice, which has superior traits. In a statement, SEARCA said that meeting the market’s needs for crops like Golden Rice should be the focus of genomics, an interdisciplinary field that revolutionized research in many fields and systems biology that started in human genome’s mapping in 1986. Golden Rice, a genetically modified (GM) rice variety, is just awaiting the government’s go-signal to be released to the market. It… Read more

Crop production will contract in the fourth quarter of 2020, and there’s a “high chance for agriculture posting a negative growth.” The prognosis comes from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). “It is important to take note that among the major economic sectors, it is only agriculture that has managed to achieve a positive growth since the onset of the COVID-19 (new coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic,” said Dr. Glenn Gregorio, SEARCA director. “I was praying that this be sustained for the rest of the year to show how resilient agriculture is, until the… Read more

The recent spate of strong typhoons that devastated many rice and corn fields in northern Luzon will likely dampen the country's agriculture output in the fourth quarter, experts said. "For the fourth quarter, the agriculture sector will feel the cumulative effects of the past typhoons that came during the months of October and November, which has been punctuated by Ulysses," Pampanga State Agricultural University professor Roy S. Kempis said in an e-mail interview. "If the sector posted 0.7% growth for the third quarter, it might be around 0.24% to 0.47% as an optimistic estimate and 0.01% to 0.23% for a… Read more

Two intergovernmental organizations whose reach extend over Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific have formalized their partnership to assist rural fisherfolk and smallholder aquaculture farmers. The Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Bangkok-based Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on joint projects that are expected to contribute to a strengthened aquaculture sector in the region. The signatories to the agreement were SEARCA Director Glenn B. Gregorio and NACA Director General Jie Huang. "SEARCA and NACA share the mandate for rural and smallholder farmers development… Read more

Revolutionizing the agriculture industry will make it more sustainable and resilient even after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) advises. During the recent Dagyaw 2020: Open Government Virtual Town Hall Meeting, SEARCA Director Glenn Gregorio admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the gaps in the supply chain and consumption system yet to be addressed. Agri most hit by COVID Relevant economic sectors in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, suffered from supply and demand shock after the agriculture industry recorded great losses. SEARCA reported that 31% of the combined population in… Read more

MANILA, Philippines — The farm sector, considered as the saving grace of the economy amid the pandemic, is expected to turn in a negative performance in the fourth quarter with a significant drop in palay (unhusked rice) production following the massive damage of Typhoon Ulysses. Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has projected a drop in palay and corn production in the last quarter, potentially causing the only remaining productive sector of the economy to contract. Among the major economic sectors of the country, only the agriculture sector has managed to achieve… Read more

While Typhoon Ulysses has long gone and dissolved in the international waters, its effects on Philippine agriculture may extend as far as the fourth quarter, in particular an estimated loss of P34.37 billion in rice crops. According to a report released by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, Philippine rice production may decline by 5 percent in the fourth quarter or an estimated loss of 939.17 metric tons, resulting in a high chance for the agriculture sector posting negative growth. The estimated value of rice production losses in Cagayan Valley in the fourth quarter… Read more

The country's agriculture sector's potential to grow significantly within this year has been wiped out by floods brought about by Typhoon Ulysses, an international think tank said. Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) Director Glenn B. Gregorio said that it is now unlikely for agriculture, the only subsector in the Philippine economy that registered growth throughout the pandemic, to keep its momentum until the end of the year. This, according to him, is due to Ulysses, together with other typhoons that hit the country over the last few weeks. "It should be noted that… Read more

YOUNG Filipino innovators have until November 17 to register for the Innovation Olympics 2.0, a competition challenging the next generation of agriculture, business and technology leaders to develop innovative solutions to challenges faced by urban and rural smallholder vegetable farmers. The event is a project of the East-West Seed in partnership with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, Sensient Colors LLC, University of the Philippines Los Baños, UPLB-Technology Transfer and Business Development Office, UPLB Startup Innovation and Business Opportunity Linkaging Labs, and APEX: The UPLB Business Network. The theme of the competition's second edition… Read more

Young Filipino innovators have until November 17 to register for the Innovation Olympics 2.0, a competition challenging the next generation of agriculture, business and technology leaders to develop innovative solutions to real-life challenges of urban and rural smallholder vegetable farmers. The theme of the competition's second edition is "Precision Agriculture for Small-Scale Vegetable Farming." Given that the agriculture sector in the Philippines, particularly its small-holder farms, have been characterized with perennial productivity woes, the Innovation Olympics aims to capitalize on the creative ideas and energies of the youth so they become active contributors of solutions that will increase agricultural productivity… Read more