The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) launched the NICER Program in 2017 to improve regional research in higher education institutions (HEIs) and create equal research and development capabilities in every country region. The said centers will enable the provinces of Pampanga, Tarlac, and Benguet to become the center of R&D for tamarind, sweetpotato, and potato commodities. The Sweetpotato R&D Center will be established in Tarlac Agricultural University (TAU) under the overall leadership of Dr. Lilibeth B. Laranang, TAU Director of Rootcrops Research and Training Center. Dr. Laranang and her team will optimize clean planting materials production, develop spatial information of sweetpotato in Central Luzon, and create a sweetpotato integrated crop management program. The said R&D Center would address the limited supply of clean planting materials and lack of climate-smart crop management strategies.
