EVALUATION OF THE VEGETABLE INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT FARMERS FIELD SCHOOL PROGRAMME IN JAMMU REGION

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Date
2011
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Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu
Abstract
The present study entitled "Evaluation of the vegetable integrated pest management farmer field school programme in Jammu region" was conducted in two phases to evaluate the implementation, outcomes and impacts. The research hypotheses formulated were that the IPM-FFS programme results in gain in knowledge, application of the gained knowledge in pest management resulting in economic and environmental benefits at farm and village level. The critical multiplism technique of evaluation was employed for the study using two research designs, namely quasiexperimental difference-in-difference non equivalent control group design and non-experimental with/without ex-post facto design. For quasi-experimental study a sample of 44 farmers from four vegetable crops was selected from the IPM villages and 60 from the non-IPM villages of Jammu district. A separate sample of 80 IPM farmers and 60 non-IPM farmers was drawn from the districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua where IPM programmes were conducted between 2003-04 to 2007-08 for conducting ex-post facto study. The results of the quasi experimental study provide insight into the implementation of the IPM-FFS. The outcomes were in terms of significant gain in knowledge of cabbage, cauliflower, okra and brinjal farmers and its application in terms of raised nursery beds in cabbage and cauliflower and installation of pheromone traps in okra. The IPM trained farmers had significantly reduced pesticide spray (43%) and pesticide expenditure (70.7%) in cauliflower crop whereas in other crops there was no significant difference. The results of ex-post facto study reveal that there was significant difference in the adoption of treated seed/seed treatment in cauliflower and raised nursery beds in cabbage. The IPM farmers significantly reduced pesticide use (41.1%) and pesticide expenditure (45.1%) in brinjal crop. The cauliflower farmers significantly reduced the use of cocktail mixtures by 83.3 per cent. The synthesis of the results of the two designs employed indicate that there was reduction in pesticide use and adoption of cultural practices namely raised nursery beds and seed treatment/treated seed in the IPM villages. The socio-economic variables affecting the adoption of pesticide use and its intensity in cabbage, cauliflower, okra and brinjal crops were land holding and availability of pesticides locally. There was inconsistent evidence about the effect of different socio-economic variables on the pesticide use decision of fanners in the different vegetable crops. The uptake of the IPM could be affected by the attributes of the IPM practices and the quality of training. The major constraints in the uptake of IPM practices were: insufficient knowledge about installation of traps, non-availability of inputs namely pheromone traps and lures in the market, time consuming and labour intensive, not possible to adopt certain IPM practices on a large scale and shortage of labour during peak season. The results of the study are consistent with other evaluative studies of IPM programmes in north India. The study provides empirical hard data to IPM policy makers and implementers to reorient FFS programmes to have tangible results at the farm level. Keywords: IPM, FFS, Vegetable IPM, FFS implementation, Outcome evaluation, Impact evaluation
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