ANALYSIS OF FARMER FIELD SCHOOLS AS A TOOL OF CAPACITY BUILDING FOR RESOURCE POOR FARMERS IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

The present study was conducted in 2010 to analyze Farmer Field Schools (FFS) as a tool of capacity building for resource poor farmers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. For this purpose, seven districts were selected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province including Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat and Hangu. Data regarding capacity building of resource poor farmers were obtained from 280 randomly selected farmers through “survey” method and were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results indicate that the highest capacity building took place in the area of controlling pre-harvest losses by the resource-poor farmers which was ranked 1st with mean value 3.37 followed by controlling post-harvest losses and timely and balanced use of fertilizers which were ranked 2nd and 3rd with mean values 3.23, 3.11, respectively. Under the crop protection issue, the highest capacity building by farmer respondents took place in the areas of insect/ pests’ identification which was ranked 1st with mean value 3.26 followed by recognizing insect/ pests’ mode of action and insect/ pests’ control by local recipes which were ranked 2nd and 3rd with mean values 3.07 and 2.87, respectively. However, farmers highest capacity building occurred in the area of chemical weed control which was ranked 1st, closely followed by manual and cultural weed control measures which were measures ranked 2nd and 3rd with mean values 3.12, 2.95, and 2,67, respectively. Likewise, the highest capacity building by farmer respondents took place in the area of furrow irrigation which ranked at the top with mean value 3.30 followed by boarder and basin irrigation techniques which stood 2nd, and 3rd with mean values 2.95, 2.83, respectively. It can be concluded from the study that FFS have highly built up capacity of farming community due to its practical way of training.