The Bulacan Agricultural State College (BASC) conducted a field visitation to one of its partners’ learning site, the FMC Agro Philippines Inc. Learning Center located at Calauan, Laguna on March 30, 2023.

     Sixteen delegates from BASC who attended this bench- marking field visitation and lecture led by the FMC Learning Center Team were the University President, Dr. Jameson H. Tan, International Relations Director, Dr. Meriam F. Sulit, College of Agriculture Dean, Dr. Julita P. Mendoza, Research Director, Mr. Rael C. Tejada, together with College of Agriculture Faculty members, MSA program Students, IRO Staff, and RO Staff . 

     The FMC technicians demonstrated their operations in R&D thru tour of their field trial sites of different crops that are currently being tested with herbicides. The different field trial sites for pre-development and later stages of development of their products are also differentiated with pre-dev using concrete blocks and later stage dev on field with buffer borders to control leaching. Questions asked during the tour were also addressed by their experts ensuring that their methodologies are highly technical and systematically accurate. 

     In the lecture sessions, the FMC team discussed the company operations of different departments from R&D department, Techno Commercial Department, to Customer Relations Management. The process and time cycle of product development were elaborately discussed along with information regarding documentary and technical/professional requirements to be granted permit to conduct them. For possible R&D collaboration with BASC, the institution is first required to have FPA trained and accredited researchers and response care officers to become a research site for product developments. 

     The research office was given an idea to encourage their researchers from the field of crop protection to obtain such eligibility for capacity enhancement.

     And lastly, the HR-Business Partners, Philippines, Malaysia & Myanmar, Ms. Alma Lugawe, presented their campus engagement programs where BASC, as an institution, can become a partner collaborator on their internship programs for on-the-job trainings (OJT), career orientation, career fair, and agriculture student scholarship program. The FMC technicians are also open to invitations for seminar lectures about crop protection related topics as promoters to raise awareness about the necessity and positive impacts of chemical inputs on the yield of crops. At the end of the program, Dr. Jameson H. Tan applauded the efforts of FMC and warmly welcomed them as an institutional partner of BASC, soon to be BSAU, for more years to come. A plaque of appreciation was awarded to them for the fortuitous and productive site visitation and benchmarking.