The university has played an influential role in Asian agriculture and biotechnology due to its pioneering efforts in plant breeding and bioengineering, particularly in the development of high-yielding and pest-resistant crops.

The Cornell-Los Baños project, implemented in 1952 to 1960, involved the rebuilding of UPCA's physical plant and Central Experiment Station, procurement of scientific equipment, and upgrading of teaching standards.

[21] The 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis[22][23] under the Ferdinand Marcos government marked the beginning of a prolonged period of social unrest across the country, including in UP Los Baños.

[24] This period of unrest, which included the First Quarter Storm, coincided with another issue, which was the call for the UP College of Agriculture to become independent from the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

[24] When martial law was declared in September 1972, Marcos cracked down on any form of criticism or activism, leading to the arrest, torture and/or killing of Los Baños residents.

Those killed included student activists Alexander Mecenas Gonzales,[25] Modesto "Bong" Sison, and Manuel Bautista,[24][26] campus journalists Antero Santos[27] and Alfredo Malicay,[28] and botany teaching fellow Cesar Hicaro.

Those who went missing ("desaparecidos"), meanwhile, included Tish Ladlad, Cristina Catalla, Gerardo "Gerry" Faustino, Rizalina Ilagan, Ramon Jasul, and Jessica Sales.

Later in 1972, UPCA formally requested Ferdinand Marcos to allow the college to secede from the University of the Philippines due to the alleged withholding of its budget and the disapproval of curricular proposals.

[24] Violent crime incidents in the UPLB community, with some resulting in the deaths of students (Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez in 1993,[31] Given Grace Cebanico in 2011,[32] Ray Bernard Peñaranda and Maria Victoria Reyes in 2012)[33][34][35] were widely covered by the national media.

The 1,098 ha (2,710-acre) Los Baños campus houses UPLB's academic facilities, as well as experimental farms for agriculture and biotechnology research.

[5] The more prominent buildings in the Los Baños campus, such as the Dioscoro L. Umali Hall, Main Library, and Student Union were designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin.

[40] Other notable landmarks include the iconic Oblation, Alumni Plaza, Freedom Park, and Baker Memorial Hall.

The reserve is home to diverse flora and fauna, and has more tree species than the continental United States (an area 32 times bigger than the Philippines).

[5] The 5,719 ha (14,130-acre) Laguna-Quezon Land Grant is located in the towns of Real, Quezon, and Siniloan, Laguna, and was acquired in February 1930.

Supervised by the UPLB Graduate School, UP PSAE was established through a grant by Damosa Land Inc., a leading property developer in Mindanao.

[47][48] As part of the University of the Philippines System, UPLB is governed by the 11-person UP Board of Regents, which is jointly chaired by the head of the Commission on Higher Education and the UP president.

Examinees that select UPLB as their preferred campus and garner a University Predicted Grade (UPG) within the standard cut-off are automatically eligible for admission.

[12] Between 1921 and 1939, cattle, poultry, and swine breeding programs produced new breeds, namely the Philamin (a hybrid of the Hereford, Nellore and native cattle), Berkjala (a variety of the Berkshire and local Jala-Jala pig, resistant to hog cholera) and the Los Baños Cantonese chicken, which produces more eggs.

[101] Research in the 1960s allowed for the efficient mass production of macapuno (a type of coconut with jelly-like meat),[102] while studies started in 1998 that produced delayed-ripening papaya continue to this day.

[105] In 2009, UPLB researchers funded by the Department of Agriculture developed an abacá variety that is resistant to the abaca bunchy top virus.

The virus, first detected in 1915 at Silang, Cavite, has since spread to various provinces in the country, and damaged more than 8,000 ha (20,000 acres) of abacá plantations in 2002 alone.

[107] In July 2010, UPLB announced that the Leucinodes orbonalis-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant variety that it had been developing with Cornell University and Mahyco was ready for commercialization.

Likewise, Section 3 of the code states that "the University of the Philippines System is a public, secular, non-profit institution of higher learning."

Founded in August 1964 with a broadcast power of 250 watts at 1210 kHz, the station serves as a distance education tool and training facility.

[3] Meanwhile, four UPLB scientists are members of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that won the Nobel Prize in 2007: Rex Victor Cruz, Felino P. Lansigan, Rodel D. Lasco, and Juan M.

[8] National Scientist Romulo G. Davide was given a Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2012 for "his steadfast passion in placing the power and discipline of science in the hands of Filipino farmers".

Those currently in office include Senate President Migz Zubiri, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Isidro Ungab, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan,[139] and Makati City mayor Abigail Binay.

[142] Former UP presidents Bienvenido Maria Gonzalez (1939–1943; 1945–1951), Emil Q. Javier (1993-1999) and Emerlinda R. Roman (2005-2011) graduated from UPLB,[3] along with the sitting chancellors of UP Baguio, UP Mindanao,[143] and UP Open University.

[144] Alumni who held ranking posts at other academic and research institutions include Jikun Huang, Founder and Director of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,[145] Kyu-Seong Lee, Director-General of South Korea's Rural Development Administration,[146] and Weerapon Thongma, President of Maejo University in Thailand.

[147] San Miguel Corporation Chairman and CEO Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and Bounty Agro Ventures President Ronald Daniel Mascariñas also attended UPLB.