This year, the Regenerative Agriculture & Climate Mitigation (RAC) Program of the Sugar Industry Foundation, Inc. (SIFI) signed with 8 new partners for Cohort 2 demo farms.
After several meetings and coordination with the farm managers and encargados, RAC completes their field validation and baseline data gathering for the 8 new partners. The data gathered includes farming practices, past crop year, averages, projected harvest dates of proposed demo farms, land preparation requisites, and target start dates of demo farms.
![](https://www.sugarindustryfoundationinc.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/rac-mung-bean-broadcasting1.png)
During this period, 2 green manure demo farms planted mung bean, 1 minimum tillage demo farm planted sugarcane, while the rest of the demo farms are scheduled for planting in the last quarter of 2023 up to the first quarter of 2024.
![](https://www.sugarindustryfoundationinc.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/rac-mung-bean-broadcasting2.png)
The RAC provided 40kgs of Argentina variety mung bean to the planters for the green manure demo farms. Farm-site sessions and actual demonstration of broadcasting mung bean were done as technical assistance to the planters and workers. The farmworkers expressed that this is a first experience of the technology for them.
On the other hand, the minimum tillage demo farm was planted with PSR 2000-161 sugarcane variety. A variation to the RAC protocol was also done during the planting. Instead of cane points, whole stalks (est. length of 1 meter each, equal to 4 cane points) were planted in the demo farm. A total of 3.79 lacsas or 9,475 whole stalks were planted. It was noted that the practice of planting whole cane stalk is not a technology but a farm practice by some planters. Based on the own experience of the partner farm, this results to a better germination rate and requires less to none re-planting.
Continuous monitoring and technology transfer sessions in the farm are being done by the RAC to further enhance results in the coming months.