Abstract:
The present study was conducted in the central region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK),
Pakistan comprising seven districts: Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi,
Kohat and Hangu, during 2010. The objective was to analyze the perceived effect of
Farmer Field School (FFS) approach on farmers’ capacity in controlling pre- and postharvest
losses. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected from 280
randomly selected farmer respondents. The analysis revealed that FFS had remarkably
built up farmers’ capacity in controlling pre and post-harvest losses caused by rodents,
birds, immature harvesting/picking, and inappropriate packing, storing, and
transportation of the produce. Furthermore, FFS helped farmers in reducing losses at the
market and controlling grain borer, wheat weevil, and store weevils effectively. The study
concluded that the highest improvement as a result of FFS activities was in controlling
losses by rodents, proper packaging and labeling of the produce, and controlling some
stored grain pests like grain borer and wheat weevil. By and large, farmers’ capacity was
built up in almost all aspects of controlling pre- and post-harvest losses, except a few i.e.
losses due to immature harvesting of crops, and controlling losses caused by store insects,
which needed special focus of the authorities concerned.
Keywords: Controlling crop losses, Farmers’ Capacity building, Farmers’ Training, FFS
extension approach, Immature harvesting
