Farmer field school’s training on knowledge level of citrus growers regarding improved production practices

Abstract

The major objective of this paper was to assess the impact of the Farmer field school (FFS) training program on the knowledge level of farmers (citrus growers) regarding improved citrus production practices. Distract Sargodha was the targeted research area for this study being the leading producer of citrus in Pakistan. Quantitative data were collected through interview schedule and analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It was conclude that young people were more tend towards getting training under FFS program than old age farmers. Educated farmers were in majority in FFS farmers while; conversely illiterate farmers were in majority in the category of non-FFs farmers. In category of FFS farmers livestock farming was their primary income as reported by majority (31.3%) of FFS farmers and in the case of non-FFS farmer’s crop sale was their primary income source as reported by 28.4% of non-FFs farmers. In addition to that both FFS and non-FFS farmers also earn income from nonfarm sources like business, job, foreign remittances and labour. FFS training program had positive and significant impact on the knowledge level of farmers regarding citrus production and protection practices. T-test statistics showed highly significant (P<0.05) difference in knowledge level of FFS farmers and non-FFS farmers.

Knowledge of Farmers on Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Selected Areas of Mymensingh Sadar Upazila, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh

“…The negative mean difference indicates that FFS motivated the farmers in reducing fertilizer usage which is further indicated by lower means of FSS farmers compared to non-FFS farmers. Victor et al [49]; van Huis and Yajima [50] had similar findings regarding fertilizer use by FFS attending and non-attending farmers.…”

Exploring the Impact of Farmer Field Schools on the Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Farm Production: A Case of Pakistani Citrus Growers

“…Similarly, [37] showed that FFS graduates were well equipped to apply soil management, integrated pest management, farmyard manure, and balanced fertilizer in Sargodha. [35] suggested that interactive learning and on-site training sessions vastly improved the farmer's adaptive capacity. Based on the literature review [1,34,35,44] and local context, three sustainable agriculture practices (drip irrigation, integrated pest management, and integrated soil fertility management) were selected as response variables for this study (Table 1).…”

“…So far, most studies have focused on the immediate effects of FFS on IPM adoption among cotton producers [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. However, the recent FFS project was broadly aimed at sustainable agriculture practices and facilitating sustainable livelihood among fruit producers, specifically citrus producers [3,34,35]. So far, only a few studies have discussed the effectiveness of FFS projects among citrus producers.…”

Agribusiness development model for strengthening the chili-tobacco intercropping farmer group

“…Agribusiness is a business activity that is engaged in agriculture that has been oriented to profit, agribusiness people consistently strive to obtain commercial and financial value on an ongoing basis to produce products that the market needs (Adjid, 1998;Antara, 2006;Muliarta, 2016;and Hermawan, 2008). Agribusiness consists of five subsystems, namely the enterprise subsystem and the procurement and distribution of agricultural production facilities, farming subsystems, product processing subsystems (agroindustry), yield marketing subsystems and supporting services subsystems (Suparta, 2005). The problems experienced so far are farming subsystems, marketing subsystems, production, and income, which are still classified as low categories.…”

“…The problems experienced so far are farming subsystems, marketing subsystems, production, and income, which are still classified as low categories. One of the efforts that have been made by the government in making an increase in Human Resources for farmers of the chili-tobacco intercropping is through the application of field schools, which have proven to be more effective in increasing farmers 'knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards farmers and can increase farmers' production and income (Rejesus et al, 2012;Phillips et al, 2014;Victor et al, 2017). Field schools will also open up the creativity of farmers in terms of knowledge, practice, and the use and preservation of natural enemies (Palis, 2006;Guoa et al, 2015;Lampe, 2016).…”