Dr. Kyoko Watanabe and Dr. Koji Ishikawa, professors from Tamagawa University, Japan visited the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) and met with President Edgar A. Orden on March 17, 2022, to kick-start their 20-day itinerary of travel in the Philippines for the Banana and Cacao Disease Management (BacaDM) Project.

The BaCaDM is a five-year collaborative research project between CLSU and Tamagawa University, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which aims to develop and promote a technology system that will help farmers address major diseases in banana and cacao. 

The two professors also attended a series of consultation meetings with the project proponents from CLSU led by Dr. Renato G. Reyes, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director for the International Affairs Office. They discussed matters on experimental fields to be covered in the project and other details concerning the different components and personnel to be involved in the implementation process.

During the initial fieldwork activity, the Japanese professors together with the CLSU project team visited the Aurora province to collect field samples and interview banana and cacao farmers.