The M3DAS team invited key informants to conduct a focus group discussion (FGD). With close coordination with the Tarlac Mill District, representatives from block farms and planters’ cooperatives/associations were gathered last October 2, 2025 at the Central Azucarera de Tarlac in Tarlac City, Tarlac.
The valuable insights from each representative were collected to create the preliminary profile of the sugarcane industry in the Tarlac Mill District. The gathered data include distinctive farming practices, operation and management from land preparation, crop establishment, cultivation, ratoon management, harvesting, up to hauling. This activity also established an initial collaboration with the target respondents for a smooth implementation of a paperless survey of sugarcane mechanization resources using the M3DAS web survey application.
The M3DAS project is an initiative by the Center for Agri-fisheries and Biosystems Mechanization (BIOMECH) of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), funded by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD), in partnership with the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA).
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