Impact of farmers’ field schools on environment protection in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Paper Details
Impact of farmers’ field schools on environment protection in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Abstract
Farmers’ Field School (FFS) is an innovative extension approach, which is expected to play a critical role of non formal education in educating farming community regarding protection of environment thereby leading to healthier life of people. Keeping the importance of this very aspect in mind, a study was therefore, carried out to determine the impact of FFS on environment protection. For this purpose, six districts from the central region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi and Kohat were selected. Data were collected on various aspects of environment protection from 240 randomly selected FFS farmers with the help of a pre-tested interview schedule using survey technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics showing means and standard deviations besides using a paired t-test for comparison of the pre and post FFS scenarios in this regard. The results showed that FFS had a significant positive impact on environment protection through reduced use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. It had helped in reduction of soil, water and aerial pollution by establishing orchards and by using well decomposed farm yard manure, poultry waste, green manure and compost manure as alternative sources of nutrients’ supply for plant growth in the field. Furthermore, FFS had promoted local recipes for controlling insect/pests which had helped a lot in protecting the environment from pollution. Therefore, it is important for policy makers to consider FFS strategy as an important instrument to improve the environment for achieving better living conditions.
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Ijaz Ashraf, Amir Khatam, Ayesha Riaz, Gulfam Hassan (2017), Impact of farmers’ field schools on environment protection in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; IJAAR, V10, N5, May, P45-52
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