Agri museum to rise in Los Baños

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – A museum that will showcase agriculture in Southeast Asia will rise here.

The science and educational facility is a brainchild of the government hosted-Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).

SEARCA director Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. said the Southeast Asian Agriculture Museum is envisioned as a science museum and learning center for Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (ISARD) in Southeast Asia, that is slated for construction next year.

The facility aims “to advance the science and practice of agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia and stimulate discussions, learning, innovation, and collaboration for inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia.”

Saguiguit said the museum would benefit a wide spectrum of users, including young people in and outside of school, development practitioners, policy and decision makers, researchers, and media professionals who need to know and appreciate more deeply the role of agriculture in their own lives and in national development.”

SEARCA is inviting partners to join its “journey of building the Southeast Asian Agricultural Museum.”

The French embassy in Manila has already expressed interest in engaging French museum experts for making elaborate the structure’s layout and design.

The museum will have a main exhibition and gallery space, library, reading and conference rooms, and bookstore and shop. It will also have a food service section that will showcase the diverse Southeast Asian cuisine, “further providing an opportunity to complete the experience of the journey of food from “farm to market to fork”, SEARCA said.

SEARCA is one of the 21 regional centers of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), an inter-government treaty body founded in 1965 to promote cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in the fields of education, science, and culture.

SEAMEO, which is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year, is now composed of all the 11 Southeast Asian countries.

Established as SEAMEO’s first center, SEARCA is mandated to provide capacity-building interventions to promote agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia through graduate scholarships (doctoral or PhD and master’s or MS), research and development (R&D), non-degree short-term specialist training, and knowledge management.

The Philippines also hosts two other SEAMEO “centers of excellence” – one a component of a regional center that specializes in tropical medicine based in UP Manila and the other on educational innovation and technology in Diliman, Quezon City.