Refresh your memory
This guide has been designed as a collection of suggestions to refresh the memory of Farmer Field School (FFS) facilitators who graduated from a season-long TOT. It provides them with some practical information and tips for planning, running, and evaluating their FFS. It is not meant to be a training manual for new facilitators.
Table of Contents
Foreword for policy makers
Activity flow in IPM programs
What is IPM?
Pest control or pest management?
Principles of IPM
Basic concepts and assumptions
Advantages of IPM
AESA instead of ETL
What is a Farmer Field School?
Why season-long training?
Introducing the FFS
Preparing for the FFS
FFS session
Agro-Ecosystem Analysis (AESA)
AESA methodology
Formal or non-formal education?
Seating arrangement in the FFS
Facilitators and facilitation skills
Training materials
Field experiments
Examples of field experiments
Data recording
Special topics
Ballot box test
Insect zoo
Learning objectives
The plant
Seedling health
The crop
The ecosystem
Plant compensation
The soil
Collecting insects
Insect identification
Insect pest management
Plant diseases
Disease management
Weed management
Pesticides
Natural enemies
Problems caused by pesticides
Quality indicators of the FFS
Field day
FFS reporting and planning
Abbreviations and Acronyms
References
Acknowledgements
This guide for FFS facilitators was produced by the IPM DANIDA project*
Editor: Hein Bijlmakers
We wish to thank the following persons for their contributions in collecting information and providing critical reviews of draft texts:
- Andrew Bartlett,
- Chalerm Sindhusake,
- Kevin Kamp,
- Lakchai Meenakanit,
- Marut Jatiket,
- Peter Ooi,
- Sirisap Thaopathom.
Some parts of the text were taken or adapted from existing IPM training manuals and documents (see References).
October 2005
* The project “Strengthening Farmers’ IPM in Pesticide Intensive Areas” (or IPM DANIDA) was a cooperation between the governments of Thailand and Denmark (2001-2006). The overall objective of the project was to promote good agricultural practices in order to improve the environment and the safety of farmers and to protect consumers from the hazardous uses of pesticides.