THE Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said it will sign an agreement to establish a 40-hectare soil laboratory at Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Bukidnon.

The memorandum of agreement for the proposed soil laboratory at CMU, a state university, could be signed by March, Director Pablo Luis S. Azcona told BusinessWorld late Tuesday.

“We are still waiting on a counter-offer,” he said.

The soil laboratory will help Bukidnon, which accounts for 20% of Philippine sugar production, plant a wider range of cane varieties that are higher-yielding than current varieties.

The SRA is positioning Bukidnon as another possible center for sugar production alongside Negros, where sugarland is rapidly being converted by developers. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza