farmer field school

•  Farmer Field School (FFS) is non-formal educational activity. 
•  All learning is a group activity and are field based. 
•  Empowers farmers to solve their field problems by themselves. 
•  Fosters participation, interaction and joint decision making. 
•  Farmers learn by carrying out activities through constant observation 

The Farmer Field School is a form of adult education, which evolved from the concept that farmers learn optimally from field observation and experimentation. It was developed to help farmers tailor their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to diverse and dynamic ecological conditions

In regular sessions from planting till harvest, groups of neighboring farmers observe and discuss dynamics of the crop’s ecosystem. Simple experimentation helps farmers further improve their understanding of functional relationships (e.g. pests-natural enemy population dynamics and crop damage-yield relationships). In this cyclical learning process, farmers develop the expertise that enables them to make their own crop management decisions. Special group activities encourage learning from peers, and strengthen communicative skills and group building.

In a typical FFS a group of 20-25 farmers meets once a week in a local field setting and under the guidance of a trained facilitator. In groups of five they observe and compare two plots over the course of an entire cropping season. One plot follows local conventional methods while the other is used to experiment with what could be considered “best practices”. They experiment with and observe key elements of the agro-ecosystem by measuring plant development, taking samples of insects, weeds and diseased plants, and constructing simple cage experiments or comparing characteristics of different soils. At the end of the weekly meeting they present their findings in a plenary session, followed by discussion and planning for the coming weeks.

Alternative practices are not automatically assumed to be superior to conventional practices. It is up to the farmers to decide what works best through his or her testing and observations. What the FFS does is provide a risk-free setting in which to discuss, dissect, modify and experiment with new agricultural management ideas.

In this field-based setting, farmers are able to investigate a wide range of topics, such as management of soil fertility and water resources; methods of local varietal selection and issues of seed quality; risks associated with toxic pesticides and implementation of low-toxicity alternatives; development of marketing skills; and diversification of farming systems with new crops for food, fodder and profit. 

For registering write to us:

Program Coordinator

Agri & Allied Activities

Email: info.helpinghandssociety@gmail.com

Contact: +91 7896758438 | +91 8011789925

AHHS have certified MTs & Facilitators for FFS by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)