The world is seeing and experiencing the worsening effects of climate change so much so that the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres alerted the public on 21 July 2023 saying, "we are past the era of global warming and we are now experiencing global boiling." Citing the hotter-than-usual July in comparison with the temperatures throughout the century, UN Secretary-General Guterres used those words to plea for critical actions to reverse the trend.
The agricultural sector is in the hot seat as the food systems contribute 19–29 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions through methane and nitrous oxide according to a paper published by the Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2012). Fortunately, a solution to the climate change dilemma can also be found within the agricultural sector. By changing the farming practices through the principles of carbon farming and circular economy from the farm to family's table, agriculture can help combat the climate change crisis. Read more.
Carbon farming is often implemented through "regenerative agriculture" and "conservation agriculture." One of the purposes of carbon farming is to alleviate climate change by sequestering the excess carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it in soil—helping the plants grow.
Circular agriculture, on the other hand, is also known as "sustainable and integrated farming system." When it comes to sustainable agriculture, it means environment-friendly, profitability, and social equity. Farming with healthy and sustainable agri-ecosystems helps the environment by extending the use of products and materials, by minimizing waste and pollution in the production process through recycling or reusing them, and by also regenerating natural ecosystems.
The impact of carbon farming and circular agriculture is huge because farming and livestock raising account for more than half of the earth's inhabitable land. Technologies and innovations under carbon farming and circular agriculture help farmers and agribusinesses overcome the challenge to "produce more with less resources" in a sustainable manner, at the same time mitigating risks and losses brought by erratic weather and climatic conditions.
Thus, regenerating agri-ecosystems by reducing the carbon footprint, reusing, reducing and recylcling wastage while increasing production efficiency are steps toward the right direction. The practice of agriculture, with conservation and sustainability in mind, is a fitting response to the plea for radical actions in addressing "global boiling." Less.
The 17th SEARCA Photo Contest (2023), with the theme Regenerating agri-ecosystems, lowering "global boiling", seeks images from Southeast Asia, which focus on agricultural technologies and practices that help abate climate change and promote less pressure to natural resources, recycle, or re-use by-products to lessen wastage, and with low carbon footprint. (Please click here to see examples of these technologies.)
Photo submissions should ideally showcase farmers and farming families, researchers, inventors, and even students and the youth using technologies and practices in the field. The images could be part of agricultural production or experimentation across the broad spectrum of crop cultivation, livestock and animal husbandry, or fisheries.
When we talk about regenerative farming, practices such as, permaculture, agroforestry, organic farming, and peri-urban farming, among other practices, comes to mind. Below are specific examples of technologies related to the theme.
The 17th SEARCA Photo Contest (2023) is open to all Southeast Asian nationals except SEARCA staff and their immediate family members.
All entries must be submitted via https://photocontest.searca.org during the submission period (18 September –30 November 2023). A contestant can enter an unlimited number of entries for as long as these meet the photo contest specifications.
To minimize cases of plagiarism, the contestants will be asked to certify that:
Entries must be digital, colored, in JPEG format, and at least 3,000 pixels wide for a horizontal image, or 3,000 pixels tall for a vertical image at 300 dpi.
Each entry should have the following details in English:
Winners will be notified via e-mail. SEARCA has the right to offer the prize to the next winning entry if the winner does not respond within two weeks after notification.
Winners will be asked to provide their bank information for cash prizes remittance; certificates of recognition will be sent by mail.
Relevance to the theme | 40% |
Technical quality (clarity, use of tones and color, photographic composition) | 30% |
Impact (regional flavor) | 30% |
TOTAL | 100% |
All entries must be submitted online at http://photocontest.searca.org on or before 30 December 2023, 11:59 p.m. (GMT +08:00).
SEARCA Director's Choice | USD 500 |
Philippine Department of Education Secretary's Choice | USD 500 |
People's Choice Award | USD 400 |
Best Youth Photographer | USD 300 |
Kindly read our guidelines before submitting your entry.
Recommended web browsers: Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
Fields marked with asterisk (*) are required.
Photo by: (1) Marrel Dela Vega, (2) Pham Quoc Hung, (3) Dennis Ivan Chavez Baliguat, (4) Nguyen Linh Vinh Quoc, (5) Budi Prakasa Karyadi, and (6) Hansa Tangmanpoowadol.
SEARCA Photo Contest Team
College, Los Baños, 4031 Laguna, Philippines
Contact us: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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