Steps in farmer field school By Allah Dad Khan

2. Steps in conducting
FFS

3. STEPS IN CONDUCTING FFS (CLASSICALL APPROACH)
There are 8 key classical steps in conducting FFS
 1. Ground working activities
 2. Training of Facilitators
 3. Establishment and running of FFS
 4. Evaluating PTDs
 5. Field days
 6. Graduations
 7. Graduations
 8. Follow up by facilitators

4. 1. Ground working activities
 Identify focus enterprises
 Identify priority problems
 Identify solutions to identified
problems
 Establish farmers’ practices
 Identify field school
participants
 Identify field school sites

5. 2. Training of Facilitators
 Crop/livestock production and protection technologies
 Field guides on how to effectively deliver crop/livestock production and
protection topics using non-formal education methods (NFE)
 Participatory technology development (PTD) with emphasis on the approaches
and developing guidelines on conducting PTD
 Non-formal education methods with emphasis on what, when and how to use
NFE in FFS
 Group dynamics
 Special topics to be addressed at every stage of training.

6. 3.Establishment and running of FFS
 With the guidance of facilitators, the group meets
regularly throughout the season, and Carries out
experiments and field trials related to the selected
enterprise.
 Implement PTDs (Test and Validate)
 Conduct AESA and Morphology and collect data
 Process and present the data
 Group dynamics
 Special topics

7. 4. Evaluating PTDs
 Analyze collected data
 Interpret
 Economic analysis
 Presentation

8. 5. Field days
 During the period of running the FFS, field days
are Organized where the rest of the farming
community is invited to share what the group has
learned in the FFS.
 1or 2 per season
 Farmers themselves facilitate during this day

9. 6. Graduations
 This activity marks the end of the season long
FFS.
 The farmers, facilitators and the coordinating
office usually
organize it.
 Farmers are awarded certificates

10. 7. Farmer run FFS
FFS farmer graduates now have the knowledge
and
Confidence to run their own FFS.

11. 8. Follow up by facilitators
Occasionally the core facilitators will follow-up on
schools that
have graduated preferably on monthly basis. The
core
facilitators also backstop on-going farmer run FFS.

12. How to Conduct FFS
1. Selection of demonstration site:
 All weather approachable locations/ sites/ villages are
selected. The plot size in each site should be preferably one
acre for maize and 0.5 acre for vegetables. Intensively
cultivated and irrigated areas should be given preferences as
these are pest prone areas.
 The demonstration sites/locations should have the history
of having one or two major pest problems

13. 2.Bench Mark Survey:
A bench mark survey should be conducted in the
villages
selected for FFS before commencement of the
programme so as
to assess the pest problems, level of pesticide
usage, varieties
grown, size of holding and the social and economic
level of the
farmers.

14. 3.Meeting with farmers:
To start a FFS, the first step is to organize the
introductory meeting with the farmers and
collect basic information about the crop and
their problems.
Introduce the concept of IPM
Explain the training process
 Participatory
 Practical
 Learning by doing
 Experimenting

15. 4.Selection of Trainees:
For each FFS, 20 farmers along with 5
progressive farmers/NGOs/Extension
functionaries are selected as trainee. The farmers
should be selected from all income groups and
preference should be given to SC/STs and
women farmers. All the trainees should be
provided with IPM Kit

16. 5.Preparation of action plan:
The facilitator (trainer) should be well conversant
with the
local problems and able to convince the farmers.
Timing of the
FFS may be as the convenient of the trainees and
facilitator.
Tentative programme for 14 consecutive weeks
should be
chalked out including all the curriculum activities of
IPM.

17. 6.Ballot Box Test:
To test farmers at the beginning of an FFS use
“Ballot Box Test”. It is not really about testing the
farmer’s knowledge, but rather a way of showing
them the gaps in their knowledge as a way of
preparing them for what they can expect to learn
during the FFS.

18. 7.One day schedule of FFS:
The IPM Field Schools meets throughout the
cropping season once in a week in order that
participants can observe and analyse the
dynamics of the field ecology across a full
season. Each meeting consists of a set pattern of
activities; agro-ecosystem field observation,
analysis and presentation; special topics and
group dynamics. The tentative one day schedule
of the FFS may be as followed

19. One Day Programme
 Opening
 Introduction
 Attendance
 Day’s briefing of activities
 9.00 Visit of field in small groups
 Make observations that are noted by the facilitator and one
other person in the group. Facilitators points out interesting
new developments.
 10.00 Return to the shade. Begin making Agro-Ecosystem
Analysis, drawing
 and discuss management decision.
 Each team presents results and group arrives at a
consensus on management needs for the coming week.
 Tea Break
 Group Dynamics (Energiser)
 Special study topic related to farmers problem (rodent
control, micro-nutrient deficiency, health and safety,
water and fertilizer management)
 Closing with the planning of next week programme.

20. Preparation of tentative IPM Package/ Practices:
Keeping in view the past history of the crop
sequence, agronomic practices and the varieties
grown and pest problems, a tentative package of
IPM outlines for specific area should tentatively
describe the likely steps to be adopted right from
the field preparation, selection of seeds to the
harvest and evaluation of the harvest

21. Information of Non-IPM field:
Farmer’s practices on the same crop should
be observed as Non-IPM field records for
comparing the field data for evaluation

22. Farmer’s Field Day:
The Farmer’s Field Day is to be organized
after 14 weeks of training wherein detailed
discussions among the trainee farmers and the
trainer takes place on various aspects including
the success story as well as on the points of
failures. On the farmer’s field day, other
farmers, local officers and other important
persons from NGOs, Agriculture and Co-
operatives etc. should be invited. Crop cutting
experiment should also be organized so as to
compare the yield in the IPM and Non-IPM
plots.

23. Field activity
In this activity we will practice identifying the
functions of the
organisms found in the ecosystem and how they
interact with
each other.

24. Learning Objectives
 To build awareness of the relationships that exists
between so many of the living and non-living
things that are found in our environment.
 To appreciate that if one thing in this network of
interaction is changed, it can influence all of the
components of the ecosystem.
 To become more aware of the things and
interactions that make up the ecosystem of our
fields- the “ Agro-Ecosystem”
 To start to use our understanding and
observations of the Agro-ecosystem as a basis
for decision making about crop/livestock
management

25. Steps in field
 Go to the field, making sure that they have a notebook and
pen. Each group will
 Look around as far as the eye can see, and as close as
the eye can see
 List all the living and non-living things they can see
 Discuss how they are connected or how they affect each
other.
 After 20 minutes of observation, discussion and note-
taking return to the session hall
 Each group to make a picture showing all the things that
they observed and draw lines to show which things are
connected or affect each other.
 Each group to make a presentation in which they explain
what they have drawn to the big group.

26. Functions of Host team
The host team should
 Facilitate the whole week/day(s) activities
 Prepare the opening program and schedule of activities
 Arrange the training venue
 Keep the training hall and premises clean
 Provide the energiser/ice-breakers
 Introduce the resource person/guest speaker
 Check the weekly attendance of the FFS PAR
 Serve as the time keeper
 Distribute the reading materials and others
 Assist the FAX or reporter in the reporting and discussion
 Do other functions assigned by FAX
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