New Regional Center of Innovation Will Advance Horticulture in Southeast Asia

The Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), led by University of California – Davis, recently opened a “Regional Center for Innovation” in Bangkok in partnership with Kasetsart University. The center will be a regional hub for the Horticulture CRSP’s activities, including training, research, outreach, and the creation of a Global Horticultural Information Center.

This center, in combination with planned “sister” regional centers of innovation in East Africa and Central America, will help to network researchers, farmers, extension workers, and relevant private sector partners, serving as repositories for knowledge on horticulture and facilitating technology adaptation and dissemination programs in Feed the Future focus countries. The Horticulture CRSP’s priorities include sustainable crop production, post-harvest technology, food safety, market access, and financing.

The launching ceremony for the Bangkok Center for Innovation was attended by the President of Kasetsart University, the Chairman of the National Research Council of Thailand, and Staff from USAID’s regional Mission in Asia. Technologies such as a solar drying, hydroponics, drip irrigation, solar pumps, seed drying beads, and solar cooling units were featured at the launch.