Dar now leads Isaaa

FORMER agriculture secretary William Dar has been appointed the chairman of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (Isaaa), a nonprofit organization disseminating bioscience technologies to key stakeholders, particularly resource-poor farmers in developing countries.

In its website, Isaaa said Dar succeeds Paul Teng, who has been the chairman of the organization from 2013 to June 1, 2024.

«Isaaa Inc. welcomes Dr. William D. Dar, former Secretary of the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA), as the new chair of Isaaa Board of Trustees. During his term as the DA Secretary under President Joseph Estrada's administration (1998-1999), the agricultural sector of the Philippines recorded a 9.6-percent growth, an achievement that has never been achieved until today,» Isaaa said.

Dar, who wrote columns for The Manila Times, said he envisions Isaaa to become a knowledge center for agricultural biotechnology in Asia and Oceana.

«I envision Isaaa Inc. as: The premier knowledge center of agricultural biotechnology in Asia and Oceania. Information sharing, capacity building support and building partnerships are key strategies,» he added.

Dar was also agriculture secretary for nearly three years during the Duterte administration that saw the Philippines attain record palay (unmilled rice) yields of 19.29 million metric tons (MT) and 19.96 million MT in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

He also was the secretary-general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics from 1999 to 2014, which saw the center make a significant impact on parts of India and Africa considered to be semi-arid or short on water.

For his part, Teng has been the dean and managing director of the National Institute of Education International at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore since 2018 and had stints with the WorldFish Center and the International Rice Research Institute.