Deadline: January 15, 2025.

The theme, “The Future of Farming: Pathways to Carbon-Neutral Agriculture,” of the 18th Photo Contest of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), is timely as agriculture face many challenges.

By 2050, the world will need to produce 70 percent more food and the demand is continuously growing as the population races toward 10 billion in 2050, says a UN report. Worldwide, around 800 million people suffer from hunger. And if things won’t change, around 650 million (8%) of the world’s population will still be undernourished by 2030.

Therefore, this year’s theme, “The Future of Farming: Pathways to Carbon-Neutral Agriculture,” celebrates the innovations and solutions to the many issues and problems being faced by an Asian farmer in a sustainable and environment-friendly manner.

PHOTO THEME CRITERIA

Photo submissions may generally include the following:

1. Agricultural technologies that have a positive impact to farmers and farming communities while conserving natural resources.
2. Technologies or practices that increase yield or income for farmers and farming families in crop cultivation, livestock or fishery while reducing wastes.
3. Agricultural practices or technologies developed by local communities or the youth using indigenous materials or tribal knowledge.
4. Regenerative ways of farming production that promote technologies such as permaculture, agroforestry, organic farming, and peri-urban farming, among other practices.
5. New agribusiness models that introduce platforms for sharing assets (machines, storage, and primary processing; clusters to increase information flow across the value chain (certifications, direct marketing, and e-commerce- based distribution models).
6. Technologies that discourage waste or farm losses such as postharvest technologies.
7. Technologies and practices that make use of waste and by-products such as using them as feeds, compost, or have further use in nonfood value chains (bioplastics, etc.).
8. Biomass energy solutions such as anaerobic biodigesters to produce biogas and compost.
9. Use of renewable energy (solar, hydropower, wind) that can be used in agroindustry.
10. Biotechnologies in food production and preservation (e. g. bio-based polymers, fibers, construction materials, leather processing, etc.).
11. Food systems that promote local value chain, urban farming, and vertical farming practices so less use of fuel energy in the transport of produce. Hence, reducing CO₂ emission.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

1. The 18th SEARCA Photo Contest (2024) is open to all Southeast Asian nationals except SEARCA staff and their immediate family members.
2. A contestant can enter an unlimited number of entries for as long as these meet the photo contest specifications.

PRIZES

1st Prize:USD 1,000

2nd Prize:USD 800

3rd Prize: USD 600

APPLICATION

Each entry should have the following details in English:

1. photographer’s full name, age range, and gender
2. photographer’s country of origin
3. photographer’s professional status
4. photo caption
5. place where the photo was taken (include township/municipality, province/state, and country)
6. complete date taken
7. other information that may be deemed necessary for reference purposes.
8. All entries must be submitted via https://photocontest.searca.org during the submission period (18 October 2024–15 January 2025).

Find more information on the OFFICIAL LINK