LOS BAÑOS, Laguna: The Applied Knowledge Resources Unit (AKRU) of the Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) announced the winners of the 17th Searca Photo Contest.

Dr. Glenn Gregorio, Searca director, said the competition searched for images focusing on agricultural technologies and practices that help lessen climate change and promote less pressure on natural resources and with a low carbon footprint.

The Department of Education Secretary's Choice Award went to Christopher Andres of the Philippines with his photo featuring wind turbines, a renewable energy source for sustainable electricity.

The Searca Director's Choice Award, meanwhile, was given to The Duy Tu's photo of farmers planting spring onions. They cover the beds with dry grass to keep the seedlings moist.

With the theme "Regenerating agro-ecosystems, lowering global boiling," AKRU, which managed the annual photo contest, said the 2023 edition attracted 793 entries from 215 photographers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and the Philippines.

AKRU said the photographs from Vietnam by Thong Nguyen and Pham Quoc Hung bagged first and second prizes, respectively.

The first prize-winning photo features rice farmers in Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai province of Vietnam, who practice the traditional production method of human strength to thresh rice and use wind power to clean rice.

The second prize photo shows harvested rice straws prepared to be processed rather than burned.

"While one showcases a traditional postharvest method and the other a mechanized method, both are sustainable farming practices," AKRU said.

A photograph from Lao PDR by Saiyadeth Sitthilath which shows youngsters keenly learning planting techniques for growing non-toxic plants from an elderly won the third prize.

Meanwhile, four photographs that feature innovations that significantly reduce the effects of "global boiling" were given special awards. The winning entries are from Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia.

Via online voting, Aung Chan Thar won the People's Choice Award with the photo showing Vietnam's tea plantations, which serve as carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, thus helping mitigate the effects of global boiling.

Ravydo Anggara Jufri was selected as Best Youth Photographer for his photo showcasing an early warning system against frost disaster in Indonesia.

AKRU said cash prizes were received by the winning photographs which will be displayed within the Searca building located on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, shared on its social media and website and featured in various Searca publications.