Impact of famers field school in knowledge of cotton production technology in western Rajasthan

摘要

The Farmers' Field School (FFS) is a nonformal learner centered education process. It seeks to empower people to solve their field problems actively by fostering participation, interaction, dialogue, joint decision making etc. The present investigation was carried out in Pali district of Rajasthan. The three blocks viz., Raipur, Jaitaran and Sumerpur were purposively selected for the study where FFS has been organized in the year 2015-2016. The study revealed that there was a significant difference in the overall knowledge level of participants and nonparticipants of FFS. More number of participants (85.00 % belonged to high level of knowledge, whereas, more number of non participants (73.75 %) belonged to low level of knowledge. The farmer field school is nonformal education process where farmers will be trained on various aspects like how to select a seed, suitable varieties for the area, Agro ecosystem Analysis (AESA), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), field observation, observation of pests andnatural enemies, important features of the crop environment and so on. Variables like age, education, extension participation and extension contact, mass media exposure and achievement motivation of the farmers were found to have significant associationwith knowledge level of participants.