Experimental Agriculture

Table of Contents - 2007 - Volume 43, Issue 01  


EVALUATING COTTON INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM) FARMER FIELD SCHOOL OUTCOMES USING THE SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS APPROACH IN INDIA

FRANCESCA MANCINI a1c1, ARIENA H.C. VAN BRUGGEN a1 and JANICE L.S. JIGGINS a2
a1 Biological Farming Systems Group Wageningen University, Marijkeweg 22, 6709 PG Wageningen, The Netherlands
a2 Communication and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, Marijkeweg 22, 6709 PG Wageningen, The Netherlands and Communication and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, De Dellen 4, 6673 MD, Andelst, The Netherlands

Article author query
mancini f   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
van bruggen ah   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
jiggins jl   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 

Abstract

Farmer field schools (FFSs) were conducted in southern India to reduce pesticide input and enhance sustainability of cotton production systems. This study was carried out to determine the additional benefits of FFSs in the social and economic arena, using the sustainable livelihoods (SL) concept to frame the evaluation. Farmers who had participated in the integrated pest management (IPM) FFSs perceived a range of impacts much beyond the adoption of IPM practices. The reduced cost of cultivation allowed for financial recovery from debt and the building of physical assets. IPMFFS households and production systems were perceived by the participants to have become more economically resilient than Non-IPMFFS control groups when faced with adversity. In the participants' view, IPMFFSs also led to enhanced individual and community social well-being, a benefit valued in particular by the women participants. The study tested a new application of the SL conceptual framework as a tool for evaluation.

(Accepted August 8 2006)


Correspondence:
c1 Corresponding author: mancini_fao@sify.com