EXPERTS of a regional think tank hosted by the Philippine government said it sees that higher education institutions (HEIs) can further reorient their research and development from a business perspective toward a systemic change of the agriculture sector.

Dr. Glenn Gregorio and Dr. Rico Ancog of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) said the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has underscored the connections between supply chains and consumption patterns, and the urgent need to redefine agricultural systems as food systems.