BOGOR, Indonesia – A working committee for the Southeast Asia Rural Advisory Services (SEARAS) Network was formed during the regional meeting on rural advisory services on 26 August 2017 at Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) here.

Read more: Southeast Asia Rural Advisory Services Network forms working committee

Los Baños. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)-ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) Strategic Response Fund [ASRF] program management unit invites ASEAN Member States (AMS) to submit proposals on Social Forestry. ASRF under the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC) Phase 3 is designed to provide AWG-SF Leaders and Focal Points with seed fund to enable them to respond to immediate needs or catalyze strategic actions that will address emerging issues and opportunities to which response of the AMS and AWG-SF is critical. 

The activities that will be funded under Grant I (Reserved Grants for 10 AMS: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) will be within the bounds of the Plan of Action of the AWG-SF 2016-2020 and the national agenda on social forestry. The following types of projects will be considered: quick "turn-around" studies, exploratory reviews, meta-analysis/analytical studies and think pieces, dialogues/roundtable discussions/national and local consultations, and learning exchange activities.

To assist the AMS in preparing more strategic proposals, SEARCA-ASRF program management unit developed and circulated a Project Development Workshop Toolkit and the ASRF Guidelines for Application. The deadline for the submission of proposals is on 16 October 2017. (Xyrus Godfrey B. Capiña)

SEARCA will conduct a Short Course on Cropping Systems Models and its Application for Climate Impact Assessment from 4-8 September 2017 at the SEARCA Headquarters. The course is partially-funded by the Food Security Center (FSC) based at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. 

Dr. Perdinan, a faculty member of the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology at Bogor Agricultural University, and a Climate Risk Specialist from the Centre for Climate Risk and Opportunity Management in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (CCROM-SEAP) will serve as Course Lecturer. The course aims to describe a practical approach for simulating crop production using the empirical and the dynamical approach. Various principles and approaches will be covered during the five-day course which will introduce the students to crop modeling and its application for risk and impact assessment.

Twenty-eight (28) out of 86 applicants from the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam have been selected to participate in the Short Course. Selected participants are mostly graduate students, young lecturers and researchers in agriculture, agricultural engineering, agricultural economics, natural resource management, environmental science and related fields.

SEARCA is a strategic partner of FSC, one of five EXCEED Centers funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Thirty-one students from seven-member universities of the Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC) converged at Kasetsart University (KU) on 17 – 18 August 2017 for the 3rd UC Graduate Forum with the theme, "Combatting Food and Energy Insecurity and Climate Change through Sustainable and Inclusive Agricultural Technologies and Innovations." The Forum was opened by Dr. Chongrak Wachrinrat, KU President, after a message given by Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., SEARCA Director. Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond, Director of SEAMEO Regional Center for Higher Education and Development (RIHED), delivered the keynote speech, while Dr. Buncha Chinnasri, Assistant to the KU President, served as host to the whole event.

Read more: Graduate Students Showcase their Research Studies at the UC Graduate Forum 2017

MANILA, Philippines – Dr. Bessie M. Burgos, Program Head for Research and Development of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), served as a panelist in an episode of the web series billed "2030" led by CIFAL Philippines. 

Read more: SEARCA takes part in TVUP web series on 2030 agenda for sustainable dev't

Nineteen bio-business students from Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI), Japan visited SEARCA on 17 August 2017 for a briefing on the Center's programs and activities. 

Read more: Tokyo NODAI bio-business students receive briefing on SEARCA's programs and activities

The 3rd University Consortium Graduate Forum will be hosted by Kasetsart University (KU) in Bangkok, Thailand on 17-18 August 2017.

Read more: Kasetsart University to host 3rd UC Graduate Forum

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) hosted the R&D Awarding and Closing Ceremonies of "SyenSaya 2017," the annual science festival organized by the Los Baños Science Community Foundation, Inc. (LBSCFI), on 4 August 2017. 

SEARCA was one of the founding members of LBSCFI, which now has 22 member agencies. A banner program of the Foundation, SyenSaya creates heightened awareness of how science and technology (S&T) improves the quality of life.

Read more: SyenSaya science festival culminates at SEARCA

YEZIN, MYANMAR. The Forest Research Institute (FRI) of Myanmar developed a proposal to assess marketable Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in various agro-ecological zones of Myanmar during the pilot-testing of the Project Development Toolkit on 8-10 August 2017. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA)-ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) Strategic Response Fund [ASRF] program management unit developed the toolkit to assist ASEAN Member States (AMS) in developing strategic proposals that respond to emerging issues on food insecurity, poverty, and climate change.

Read more: SEARCA-ASRF and Forest Research Institute of Myanmar develop proposal to assess Marketable NTFPs...

At the opening of the annual Los Baños National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) celebration dubbed "SyenSaya" on 2 August 2017, Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr. (right), Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), discussed briefly with Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña (left) of the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) possibilities for SEARCA to collaborate with DOST, particularly on scholarships intended to develop capacities and expertise of Filipinos to address Climate Change. 

Read more: SEARCA offers to tie-up with DOST on climate change scholarships