Investigation into Effectiveness of the Farmer Field School in Tomato Production in District Swat

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the farmer field school (FFS) in tomato production in district swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The study was carried out in four purposively selected villages of swat namely; Kotlai, Parrai, Rangilla and Qabershah. For primary data collection 80 respondents were selected for the study, 20 farmers were selected purposively from each village FFSS for the study. Data were collected through a well-structured and pretesting interview schedule. It was found that majority 36.25% of the respondents of the study area belonged to age group of 41-50 years. In terms of educational level, majority 45% were illiterate. Major problems faced by the sample respondents were insect/pest attacks which were stated by 35% and the second was non-availability of seed reported by 28.75% of the total sampled respondents. The average seed rate of tomato was 290.50 gram per acre before FFS and cost was Rs. 5835.0 per acre while, after FFS it was decreased to Rs. 160.11gram per acre while average seed cost was decreased to Rs. 1518.2 per acre. Farmers of the study area were using plant to plant space before FFS 24.43cm but after FFS they are using an average plant to plant space of 30cm in their farms. The cost of fertilizer before FFS was reported to be Rs. 13948 per acre after FFS it was decreased to Rs. 5080.0. Before FFS the cost of crop protection was much higher i.e Rs. 6462.50 per acre which reduced to Rs. 829.25 per acre after FFS. The cost of farm yard manure was stated to be Rs. 7918.60 per acre which after FFS increased to Rs. 8398.80 per acre. The average yield of tomato before FFS was  recorded as 9508.8 kg per acre which increased to 12735 kg per acre after FFS through the adoption of modern techniques of tomato production recommended at FFS to the farmers that resulted in higher income of Rs. 288880.00 after FFS as compared to income before FFS i.e. Rs. 201750.00. Majority 92.5% of the respondents of the study were satisfied of the FFS services and were willing to adopt that approach in future as well.

Keywords: Investigation, Effectiveness, Farmer Field School, Tomato Production, District Swat.