MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government-hosted, Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and Tokyo University of Agriculture (Tokyo NODAI) have agreed to upscale their ongoing collaborative activities to include research, particularly when SEARCA Director Gil Saguiguit Jr. (left) visited Tokyo NODAI recently. Dr. Saguiguit is shown presenting to Tokyo NODAI president Dr. Takano Katsumi SEARCA’s institutional symbol titled ‘Growth’ as a token of appreciation. The Japanese university is a member of the SEARCA-initiated Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC). It also has a joint scholarship program with SEARCA. Also present during the meeting were Dr. Cristeta Cuaresma, Adoracion Robles, both of SEARCA; Dr. Hironobu Shiwatchi and Shinichhi Iwai, both of Tokyo NODAI.