New SEARCA book promotes role of research in sustainable development

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) has published a book that illustrates the practical application of various research methodologies that support sustainable development.

SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio said the book is authored by scientists and researchers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam.

He stressed that the book highlights relevant methodologies used by the authors for their research in their countries to tackle the challenges that bear on sustainable development.

As there have been many methodologies and strategies developed to solve specific problems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which may have evolved to suit different cultures or countries, the book editor Dr. Inocencio E. Buot, Jr., Professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), said “it is very crucial to document such unique strategies and methodologies supportive of the SDGs for others to perhaps learn from and replicate.”

He described the book as “a unique compendium, a scholarly account of peer reviewed, science-based, and replicable methodologies in Southeast Asia.”

Methodologies related to sustainable development in agriculture management comprise six chapters, while diverse topics on natural resources management are covered in seven chapters.

 

The 285-page book is “forward-looking, as it underscores helping to monitor ecosystems and community resilience or bouncing back from disasters or any disturbances causing drastic changes and disruption of processes, much like the current pandemic,” SEARCA Program Head for Education and Collective Learning Dr. Maria Cristeta N. Cuaresma said.

Buot underscored that the featured research methodologies as “conceptualized, or modified, and tested by the SEARCA alumni-authors themselves.”

Authored by 30 SEARCA scholarship and research grantees, the book presents customized methodologies they tested in their independent research work. The publication therefore highlights and celebrates some commendable research and development breakthroughs supported by SEARCA. As such, it showcases the impact of SEARCA’s graduate scholarship program to Southeast Asia.

Available in paperback and free of charge in its electronic form, the book is the first collaborative publication project of the Regional SEARCA Alumni Association (RSAA).

During the virtual book launch held last February 26, UPLB Professor Dr. Josefina T. Dizon, RSAA president and one of the authors, said the association is gearing up for another collaborative book project, which will be tied to SEARCA’s focus on sustainable agricultural and rural development.