Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture
Encyclopedia
SEARCA is one of the 20 centers of excellence of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). SEAMEO has 11 member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam.
Established in 1966, SEARCA is hosted by the Government of the Philippines on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna, Philippines.
SEARCA is mandated to: (1) provide nationals of SEAMEO member-countries with high quality graduate education and training in agriculture and rural development; (2) promote, undertake, and coordinate research programs related to the needs and problems of the Southeast Asian region; and (3) disseminate findings of agricultural research and experimentation.
In carrying out its Ninth Five-Year Plan, covering the period July 2009-June 2014, SEARCA envisions to meet contemporary development challenges and provide leadership in enabling an environment for sustainable agricultural and rural development (ARD) in Southeast Asia. It helps equip key actors and organizations in ARD to address contemporary issues and challenges that would ultimately redound to a robust yet sustainable agricultural economy, made manifest in the improved livelihoods and well being of agricultural and rural communities living in harmony with their ecosystems.
SEARCA is committed to building the capacities of Southeast Asian institutions working toward agricultural and rural development through graduate scholarship, research and development, and knowledge management. As such, these three areas also comprise its core programs.
Graduate Scholarship
SEARCA’s main mandate is to assist in producing high quality human resources in agriculture for the SEAMEO region to strengthen their institutions that would propel regional development. Through its graduate scholarship program, SEARCA has been able to produce so far more than 1,300 such professionals.
SEARCA’s Graduate Scholarship Program continues to develop a strong cadre of agriculture professionals in the region through more MS and PhD scholarships and grants.
Research and Development
Agriculture and rural development, which have grown more dynamic and have evolved in unpredictable ways over the years, continue to be basic instruments for poverty reduction and food security, particularly in Southeast Asia. It is therefore imperative that investments in knowledge generation through innovative scientific research remain at par with these changes and lead to improvement in the well-being of rural societies. SEARCA spearheads research initiatives toward articulating policy directions that would lead to a highly viable agriculture sector while addressing pressing and emergent environmental concerns of regional importance and scope. Rather than focusing solely on technical aspects of various agriculture issues, SEARCA’s research looks at policy and institutional concerns that can serve to offer a holistic perspective of the subject matter.
Knowledge Management
Excellence in leadership and governance in ARD requires fostering and supporting a learning culture in the region that applies science and research-based analyses, which in turn makes the creation of new knowledge and wisdom possible. SEARCA’s Knowledge Management Program promotes a learning culture, knowledge use, and knowledge creation among decision-makers, leaders, scholars, researchers, and key actors in agriculture and rural development through learning forums, training, seminars, virtual knowledge centers, a semi-annual journal, and other publications and electronic materials to be made available online.
SEARCA focuses on influencing leaders and centers of excellence in Southeast Asia to generate a positive impact on agricultural and rural development (ARD) in the region. These key actors and organizations can multiply any value added by their participation in the Center’s programs and activities through their decisions as well as the policies and programs in academe and development that they promote and carry out in their respective countries.
, Laos
, Malaysia, Philippines
, Singapore
, and Vietnam
, together with a representative from the United States
Government
, met to explore possible venues for regional cooperation in education
, science
, and culture
.
The historic meeting paved the way to the formation of an interim Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat (SEAMES) for the purpose of drawing up a “Discussion Paper” which detailed suggested priority projects for the region. The favorable responses and comments on the paper enabled SEAMES to prepare skeletal draft proposals for regional cooperation in education, of which the idea of instituting a Center for graduate
study and research
in agriculture
was third in the list.
Having established an impressive reputation in the field of agricultural education, the then University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA) was seriously considered to be the ideal site. Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali
, then Dean of UPCA
, wasted no time as he immediately called a select few of his colleagues to draft a position paper which advocated utilizing the resources of existing institutions for the project, instead of starting a new institution from scratch.
, Malaysia. A Task Force was then formed to thoroughly evaluate the advisability of establishing an institute
for graduate study and research
in agriculture
and the probable institution
that could be home to such. In addition, the Task Force
was tasked to recommend a framework for the operation of the proposed institute.
End result, the Task Force recommended UPCA
to be the womb that gave birth to this institute of higher learning in agriculture
.
and Quezon City
witnessed how the Philippine delegation stood steadfast in reworking on the report to propose and develop a plan for the merging of the proposed institute to the UPCA system.
With encouraging words from the then Education
Secretary Carlos P. Romulo
, Dr. G. F. Saguiguit, Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali, and Mr. Onofre D. Corpuz reworked the proposal. Their efforts paid off as the proposal was finally approved on 30 November 1966 and the institute was officially named the “Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture” (SEARCA).
Established in 1966, SEARCA is hosted by the Government of the Philippines on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna, Philippines.
SEARCA is mandated to: (1) provide nationals of SEAMEO member-countries with high quality graduate education and training in agriculture and rural development; (2) promote, undertake, and coordinate research programs related to the needs and problems of the Southeast Asian region; and (3) disseminate findings of agricultural research and experimentation.
In carrying out its Ninth Five-Year Plan, covering the period July 2009-June 2014, SEARCA envisions to meet contemporary development challenges and provide leadership in enabling an environment for sustainable agricultural and rural development (ARD) in Southeast Asia. It helps equip key actors and organizations in ARD to address contemporary issues and challenges that would ultimately redound to a robust yet sustainable agricultural economy, made manifest in the improved livelihoods and well being of agricultural and rural communities living in harmony with their ecosystems.
SEARCA is committed to building the capacities of Southeast Asian institutions working toward agricultural and rural development through graduate scholarship, research and development, and knowledge management. As such, these three areas also comprise its core programs.
Graduate Scholarship
SEARCA’s main mandate is to assist in producing high quality human resources in agriculture for the SEAMEO region to strengthen their institutions that would propel regional development. Through its graduate scholarship program, SEARCA has been able to produce so far more than 1,300 such professionals.
SEARCA’s Graduate Scholarship Program continues to develop a strong cadre of agriculture professionals in the region through more MS and PhD scholarships and grants.
Research and Development
Agriculture and rural development, which have grown more dynamic and have evolved in unpredictable ways over the years, continue to be basic instruments for poverty reduction and food security, particularly in Southeast Asia. It is therefore imperative that investments in knowledge generation through innovative scientific research remain at par with these changes and lead to improvement in the well-being of rural societies. SEARCA spearheads research initiatives toward articulating policy directions that would lead to a highly viable agriculture sector while addressing pressing and emergent environmental concerns of regional importance and scope. Rather than focusing solely on technical aspects of various agriculture issues, SEARCA’s research looks at policy and institutional concerns that can serve to offer a holistic perspective of the subject matter.
Knowledge Management
Excellence in leadership and governance in ARD requires fostering and supporting a learning culture in the region that applies science and research-based analyses, which in turn makes the creation of new knowledge and wisdom possible. SEARCA’s Knowledge Management Program promotes a learning culture, knowledge use, and knowledge creation among decision-makers, leaders, scholars, researchers, and key actors in agriculture and rural development through learning forums, training, seminars, virtual knowledge centers, a semi-annual journal, and other publications and electronic materials to be made available online.
SEARCA focuses on influencing leaders and centers of excellence in Southeast Asia to generate a positive impact on agricultural and rural development (ARD) in the region. These key actors and organizations can multiply any value added by their participation in the Center’s programs and activities through their decisions as well as the policies and programs in academe and development that they promote and carry out in their respective countries.
November 1965
The education ministers of ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Malaysia, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, together with a representative from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
, met to explore possible venues for regional cooperation in education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
.
The historic meeting paved the way to the formation of an interim Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat (SEAMES) for the purpose of drawing up a “Discussion Paper” which detailed suggested priority projects for the region. The favorable responses and comments on the paper enabled SEAMES to prepare skeletal draft proposals for regional cooperation in education, of which the idea of instituting a Center for graduate
Postgraduate education
Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education...
study and research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
was third in the list.
Having established an impressive reputation in the field of agricultural education, the then University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA) was seriously considered to be the ideal site. Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali
Dioscoro L. Umali
Dioscoro L. Umali was a National Scientist of the Philippines and is known as "the Father of Philippine Plant Breeding." He was awarded several international honors and distinctions for his outstanding achievements and improvements of rice, corn and other economic plants...
, then Dean of UPCA
UPCA
UPCA could refer to:*United Professional Cleaning Alliance*Federal Republic of Central America in present-day Guatemala*University of the Philippines College of Agriculture*UPC-A a specific format of an Universal Product Code...
, wasted no time as he immediately called a select few of his colleagues to draft a position paper which advocated utilizing the resources of existing institutions for the project, instead of starting a new institution from scratch.
July 1966
The Philippine delegation submitted the position paper to the SEAMES Technical Workshop held in Kuala, LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia. A Task Force was then formed to thoroughly evaluate the advisability of establishing an institute
Institute
An institute is a permanent organizational body created for a certain purpose. Often it is a research organization created to do research on specific topics...
for graduate study and research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and the probable institution
Institution
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community...
that could be home to such. In addition, the Task Force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
was tasked to recommend a framework for the operation of the proposed institute.
End result, the Task Force recommended UPCA
UPCA
UPCA could refer to:*United Professional Cleaning Alliance*Federal Republic of Central America in present-day Guatemala*University of the Philippines College of Agriculture*UPC-A a specific format of an Universal Product Code...
to be the womb that gave birth to this institute of higher learning in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
.
November 1966
The Second Conference of the SEAMES held in ManilaManila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
and Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
witnessed how the Philippine delegation stood steadfast in reworking on the report to propose and develop a plan for the merging of the proposed institute to the UPCA system.
With encouraging words from the then Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
Secretary Carlos P. Romulo
Carlos P. Rómulo
Carlos Peña Rómulo was a Filipino diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32...
, Dr. G. F. Saguiguit, Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali, and Mr. Onofre D. Corpuz reworked the proposal. Their efforts paid off as the proposal was finally approved on 30 November 1966 and the institute was officially named the “Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture” (SEARCA).
Officials
| Position | |
|---|---|
| Director | Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr. |
| Deputy Director - Administration | Franciso F. Peñalba |
| Manager - Graduate Scholarship Department (GSD) | Editha C. Cedicol |
| Manager - Knowledge Management Department (KMD) | Maria Celeste H. Cadiz |
| Manager - Research and Development Department (RDD) | Mercedita A. Sombilla |
| Manager - Project Development and Management Department (PRODEV) | Bessie M. Burgos |
Directors
| Duration | |
|---|---|
| Dioscoro L. Umali | 1967-1971 |
| Jose D. Drilon | 1972-1981 |
| Joseph C. Madamba | 1981-1983 |
| Emil Q. Javier | 1982-1983 |
| Fernando A. Bernardo | 1984-1987 |
| Arturo A. Gomez | 1988-1993 |
| Percy E. Sajise | 1994-1999 |
| Ruben L. Villareal | 2000-2002 |
| Arsenio M. Balisacan | 2003-2009 |
| Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr. | 2009-Present |