THE country’s sugarcane industry aims to raise yield levels by over a fourth to 75 metric tons (MT) per hectare by utilizing an Australian-inspired irrigation and sensor technology that would allow the sector to adapt to changes in the climate.

In a seminar series hosted by the Southeast Asian Regional Center Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), Armando N. Espino Jr., Water Resources Management Center (WRMC) head, said irrigation will be a major key to raising sugar productivity, adding that the sector can further increase its present P87-billion contribution to the economy by augmenting the application of irrigation.