Signs MoU to promote education, training, and research programs, projects, and activities to upgrade agriculture by technology integration and to address challenges of farming practices
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) signed a formal agreement to cooperate on initiatives that promote agriculture and rural development.
SEARCA has priority focus on promoting a transformational leadership mindset among stakeholders in the agricultural sector, including its scholars, training participants, and other beneficiaries of its formal education and capacity-building initiatives.
Dr. Glenn Gregorio, SEARCA director, and Prof. Shobhakar Dhakal, AIT vice president for academics signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which intends to promote collaboration between the two institutions in undertaking education, training, and research programs, projects, and activities.
Prof. Dhakal expressed his enthusiasm for institutional cooperation, stating that “the partnership between SEARCA and AIT have potential broad linkage opportunities, including scholarships, training programs, and policy development.
“AIT is focused on technology and engineering, and we are focused on agriculture, but actually, we are integrating technology in agriculture to upgrade and address challenges of farming practices. This is one area of possible collaboration between our institutions. We can see the synergy of complementing priority areas of both SEARCA and AIT” explained Dr. Glenn Gregorio, SEARCA director.
SEARCA conducts workshops, seminars, and training programs focusing on leadership development, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement. The end goal is to help build a new generation of leaders who are committed to promoting innovation and sustainability in the agricultural sector.
Image Caption: Dr. Glenn Gregorio (second from right), SEARCA director, and Prof. Shobhakar Dhakal, AIT vice president for academics, during MoU signing ceremony. They are flanked by Dr. Nur Azura Adam, SEARCA deputy director for programs, on the right and Prof. Sangam Shrestha of the AIT Water Engineering and Management Program.