Message
It is with great pleasure to welcome you to the College of Agriculture and Food Science, one of the top institutions
offering agricultural science in the Philippines. Our college is composed of nine (9) academic departments and has more
than 80 full-time faculty members, 47 of whom are holders of doctorate degrees from prestigious universities in the
Philippines, Japan, USA and Europe. We offer BS, MS, and PhD degrees in various fields of agricultural science and related
fields. Our scientists/researchers, some of whom are the best in the country in their respective fields, are conducting
multimillion researches funded by national and international agencies. We are also very proud of our many international
linkages with universities and research institutions in various parts of the world.
We would be very glad to welcome new undergraduate and graduate students as well as visiting professors and researchers
from institutions in the country and abroad.
About the Dean
Dean Asio is an internationally-recognized scientist. He is a Professor of Soil Science and Geo-ecology at the
Department of Soil Science. He obtained his BSA Soil Science from VSU, MSc Soil Science (minor in Crop Physiology)
from U.P. Los Banos (Thesis conducted at IRRI) and doctorate degree (Dr.sc.agr.) in Soil Science (minor in Site Ecology)
magna cum laude from the University of Hohenheim, Germany. He did postgraduate studies in Soil Science, Geography and
Plant Nutrition at Justus Liebig University in Giessen as well as postdoctoral studies at the National Taiwan University
and the University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Halle-Wittenberg,
National Taiwan University and the University of Hohenheim. He is a recipient of numerous research awards/fellowships
from local, national and international institutions such as ViCARP, PARRFI, PSSST, CHED, NAST, SEARCA, IRRI, NSC, DAAD,
and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. VSU recognized him with its highest award, the Outstanding Academician Award. He
has authored or co-authored about 80 papers in peer- reviewed journals, books and other publications. He co-authored
with colleagues from Germany and the Netherlands the “Guidelines for Soil Description (4th edition)”, the global standard
guide for field soil examination, published by FAO of the United Nations in English, Spanish, Russian and Turkish.
He was elected Secretary of the Soil Geography Commission of the International Union of Soil Sciences, and has served as
reviewer for prestigious international Journals such as Catena, Geoderma, Soil Science Society of America Journal, Journal
Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Ecological Applications, Land Degradation and Development, Chemical Geology and others. He is an elected member of
Sigma Xi Research Honor Society (USA).