The document discusses the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach to rural development and farmer training. It describes how FFS originated in Indonesia in 1989 as a new approach focused on integrated pest management. FFS are group-based learning processes where farmers meet regularly during crop seasons to conduct hands-on experiments and make observations in their own fields, guided by a facilitator. The goal is to increase farmers' understanding of agroecology and build their capacity to make informed management decisions.

2. A new approach to rural development
By
Allah Dad Khan
Allahdad52@gmail.com
03329221298

6.  The Farmer Field School (FFS) is a group-
based learning process that has been used by
a number of governments, NGOs and
international agencies to promote Integrated
Pest Management (IPM).

7.  By the end of the 1980s, a new approach to
farmer training emerged in Indonesia called the
'Farmer Field School' (FFS). The broad problem
which these field schools were designed to
address was a lack of knowledge among Asian
farmers relating to agroecology, particularly the
relationship between insect pests and beneficial
insects

8.  Prophylactic, calendar-
based spraying
 Heavy subsidy on
pesticides (80%)
History of Farmer Field School
Outbreak of BPH during 1970-1980s

9. The first IPM Farmer Field Schools were
designed and managed in 1989 by experts
working for the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) in Indonesia. This was
not, however, the first attempt made by FAO
to extend IPM techniques to farmers in South
East Asia.

10.  FFS is is a group extension method based on adult
education program that utilizes discovery learning and
participatory techniques.
 Composed of groups of 25-30 farmers who meet
regularly during the course of the growing seasons.
 FFS aims to increase the capacity of groups of farmers
to carry out experiments in their own fields.
 The facilitator is called a field leader (FL). The FLs are
trained in both technology and facilitation skill in a
program called a Training of Trainers (TOT).
History Farmer Field School
What is a Farmer Field School

11. Farmer Field School is a school without walls. Farmers and
extension workers are students. The Farmers Field is the class
room and the plant is the teacher. As the plant grows the students
gain knowledge in the light of their observations. The get together
at a fixed time every week once and make their own decisions
based on observations and data analysis for the health of the
plants.

12. 1. Skill Development
2. Empowerment
3. Will power
4. Capacity of Decision Making

13.  Grow a healthy crop
o Resistant varieties, proper fertilzers, water and
soil management, etc
o Healthy crop can resist diseases and compensate
for damage
 Observe fields regularly
o To assess crop development, diseases, insect
pest population, and natural enemies.
 Conserve natural enemies of crop pests
o Abundance of natural enemies in the field
 Avoid the use of pesticides that kill natural
enemies
 Farmers understand ecology and become experts in
their own field
 Make decisions based on observations and
analysis of the field situation

14.  The Target Group- Farmers
Resource deficient, Illiterate, Traditional, inward
looking
 Objectives
 Poverty alleviation.
 Enhanced Productivity
 Reduced Costs
 Social Organization
 Group formation (pressure Groups)
 Conflict Resolution (Debate and consensus building)
 Empowerment and removing dependency
Setting Research Agendas
To do own research

15. •Natural Resource Management
•Freshwater use
•Soil Conservation
•Environment protection
•Health consciousness
•Livelihood improvement through Technology
Use.
Putting it in Perspective

16.  Products vs Knowledge based Technologies
 Knowledge vs Skill Development
 Learning by doing vs by seeing
 Discovery based learning
 Decision making vs following advice
 Situation based vs Technology based development
 Participatory vs Empty barrel approach

17. Basic Philosophy
Role of Farmers
Role of Facilitators
Perception by Farmers
Approach
Instructions
Consume New
Knowledge
Teach
Free Service
Top Down
Discovery
Decide
Facilitate
Invest time and
farm facilities
Bottom-up
Features T & V FFS

18. What is IPMfor a Farmer ?
Integrated Pest Management
or
Increased Profit Margins

19. √ Only farmer can make the “right” Farm Management decision
based on his own perceptions of economics and technologies.
So farmer should be trained in decision-making
√ There are too many farms (5.00 mill) and too few extension
workers to be able to service them all.
A self multiplying training programme for farmers need to
be established.
√ Each farmer field is different in pest, beneficial fauna, soil and
other eco-system elements and cannot be treated on a generalized
technology package message.
√ Technologies requiring decision-making and management need
skill transfer training.
IPM cannot be implemented simply by demonstration, field days,
TV Ads, radio, publications etc.

20. TOF
25
Facilitators
10 FFS
3 days TOF per week
2 days FFS per
week
Innovations
•Partial residence
•Single district
participants
Pakistan
Model

21. Non-Formal
education
Specialist/
Facilitators
Researchers/
Subject matter
Specialists
ToF 25
Facilitators
Facilitators are further
divided into 5 groups
each group comprises of 5
facilitators
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5
FFS FFS FFS FFS FFS FFS FFS FFS FFS FFS
Training of Facilitators

22. TOF: Training of Facilitators
Activity guided by a facilitator who has been
trained before hand
CHARACTERISTICS
• One complete growing season
• Learning by doing
• Growing own crop (regular observations on
plant development)
• Carry out FFS
• Group dynamics (serve as preparation for
trainees to conduct FFSs themselves and to
gain facilitation skills)
• Fostering corporate identity (provides joint
spirit which is crucial factor for the success)

23. FFS: Farmer Field School
•Non formal adult education
•CHARACTERISTICS
 One complete growing season
 Discovery based learning in the field
 Conducting experiments (insect zoo, herbivore-
predator trials in cages, defoliation experiments etc)
 Working in groups
•Horizontal learning by fellow farmers

24. TYPICAL SEQUENCE OF FFS
 Field observations
 Agro-eco-system analysis
 drawing (observations are assembled
in large drawings showing plant, pests on one
side and beneficial insects on the other side)
 presentation
 discussion
 crop management decision
 Group dynamics
•Special/Interesting topics or observations

25.  Drawing
 Each subgroup presents
their observations and
analysis in drawing.
o plant
o weather
o disease symptom
o pests
o natural enemies
o water level
Process of Farmer Field School
Agroecosystem Analysis

26. Agro-Ecosystem Training
Cucumber Cropping Calendar
Ismailia, Winter Season
October November December January February
Preplant Seedling Growth Flower Fruit-Set Harvest
Climate protect young plants
from strong winds
preferred temperature: day 24
o
/night19
o
rH should not sink below 40-50%
preferred temperature: day 20
o
/night16
o
rH should not sink below 40-50%
preferred temperature:
day 27
o
/night27°
keep tunnels closed for
germination only
ventilate tunnels, particularly after sunrise to avoid water on the leaves at anytime
keep tunnels closed at night
Soil • use fine-structured, well
aerated organic soils
• use 20-40m
3
manure to
increase organic matter
• add 50-100 kg sulfur to
lower alkalinity
• plant 2-3 cm deep
• keep soil warm to assist
germination
remove weeds
Water use well drained soils
with high water holding
capacity
irrigate lightly and regularly, preferably in the morning hours
avoid water logging and periods of water stress
Nutrients
N 50 kg Ammon. Sulfate
P 100 kg Super Phosphate
K
Ca 50 kg Calcium Nitrate
Microelements
Protection Favorable Conditions: Control Measures:
Downy Mildew 20-25
o
C
90-95% rH
Protective:Cu-oxichloride
Curative: systemic
Powd. Mildew 20-25
o
C
75-85% rH Micronized Sulfur/water
Spider Mites warm and dry
Micronized Sulfur
Aphids K-soap
Cultural
Practices
do not grow cucumber
repeatedly in the same
field to avoid nematodes
use 1.5 kg seeds/fd
6-8000plants/fd
1-2 plants/m
2
clip tips to encourage
side shoots
cut out old, diseased
leaves
50 kg Potassium Sulfate 50 kg Potassium Sulfate
50-100 kg Super Phosphate
Use TX6 Nozzles for best coverage
Crop Calendar
 
Water
Beneficials
Cultural
Practices
Nutrients
PestsWeather
Soil
Plant
Ecosystem Analysis

27. TOF/FFS Crop Cycle Activity ChartTOF/FFS Crop Cycle Activity Chart
L
Land
Preparation/
Group
formation
AESA
Insect
Zoo
Special
topic
AESA
Insect
Zoo
Group
Dynamics
AESA
Insect
Zoo
Group
Dynamics
S Topic
AESA
Insect Zoo
Group
Dynamics
Data
Analysis

28. Agronomic Data
Weekly
Plant Height
# of leaves/plant
# of flowers/plants
# of fruits/plants
Weight of harvested
fruits
Plant Protection
Data
Weekly
Counting insect
pests
Counting natural
enemies
Diseases incidence
General Data
Weekly
Variety
Days after
planting
Weather
conditions
Soil
conditions
Agro-ecosystem Analysis (AESA)Agro-ecosystem Analysis (AESA)

29.  Presentation and Discussion
 Each subgroup presents their
analysis
 Group discussion
 Decision about pest control
measure is made
 Facilitator will facilitate the
discussion
Process of Farmer Field School

30.  IPM validation trials
 IPM Practices vs Farmer Practices
 Conducted on 1000 m2
plot, each 500 m2
Process of Farmer Field School

31.  Field cages
o To demonstrate how
natural enemies keep pest
population under control
Process of Farmer Field School
Supporting IPM Field Studies

32. Crop compensation
oTo demonstrate that
crop plants can
compensate for some
damage by producing
new leaves or shoots
Process of Farmer Field School
Supporting IPM Field Studies

33.  Plastic bagging
o To demonstrate how
enclosing cacao pod with
the pastic bag can prevent
attack from pod borer
Process of Farmer Field School
Supporting IPM Field Studies

34.  Use of insect traps
o Farmers learn how to
monitor insect population
using traps
Process of Farmer Field School
Supporting IPM Field Studies

35.  Insect zoo
o To study life cycle of insects
o To study feeding behavior of
insects
o To study predator and parasitoids
Process of Farmer Field School
Supporting IPM Field Studies

36.  A variety of team building
games and exercises
employed
during the training
Process of Farmer Field School
Group Dynamics
 To foster cooperation and
togetherness within the group
 To sharpen farmer
communication
and organizing skills

37.  FFS starts with a ballot-box pretest
of knowledge and ends with a
posttest
 A simple tool to measure the level
of a farmer’s knowledge on an
agroecosystem
 Questions focus on:
 recognition of pests, natural
enemies, diseases
 recognition of damage from
pests and diseases
 management of pests and diseases
 etc
Process of Farmer Field School
Ballot Box

38.  At the end of FFS season
 To show the results of FFS to
other farmers, agricultural staff,
local government officials.
o IPM plot vs Farmer Practice
plot
o Other field experiments
o Insect zoo (pests and natural
enemies)
Process of Farmer Field School
Field Day

39.  One-week training is
conducted for farmer
trainers prior to organize
farmer-led FFS;
 Curriculum of TOT includes
facilitation and management
skills for organizing an FFS,
and review and discuss
background of FFS topics,
e.g. agro-ecosystem
analysis.
 Farmer-to-Farmer FFS are
implemented in the same
way, except the trainers are
farmers.
 Key elements in the
development of IPM over
large areas.
Follow-up Activities

40. Farmer IPM Field Studies
 To develop farmer’s own
knowledge and
technologies;
 To develop a capacity to
find an answer/proof or to
test a method;
 To develop farmer’s
capacity on research and
its networking with
research-related
institutions.
Follow-up Activities
 Making plant extracts for
botanical
pesticides and testing the
effectiveness

41. Farmer IPM Field Studies
 Study on effects of plastic mulch  Study on effects of bamboo staking
in potatoes
Follow-up Activities

42. Farmer IPM Field Studies
 Production and application of Trichoderma
Follow-up Activities

43.  FFS - IPM
 Food crops
 Palawija crops
 Vegetable crops
 Fruit crops
 Industrial crops
• FFS-ICM
 Rice
 Soybean
 Maize
 Fand V
 Fruits
• FFS – GAP
• FFS - Climate
Funding Sources
 Self financed FFS
 District government
 Pronvincial government
 Central government
 World Bank
 USAID
 ADB
 ACIAR
 etc
• Modified to train farmers of other crops
• The training methodology was not changed.
Development of FFS

44. FarmerField
Schools Give a man a fish
…...and feed him for a day
Teach him how to fish
…..and feed him for life

45. 45