EFFECT OF FARMER FIELD SCHOOL (FFS) APPROACH ON YIELD OF WATERMELON

The Farmers Field School (FFS) is a successful extension tool adopted in many parts of the country in transfer of technologies to rural people. This may be due to its strengths like seed to seed technology approach, learning by doing and group influence. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dakshina Kannada organized a need based Farmer Field School to effectively transfer technology of Integrated Crop Management in water melon. The lead farmer was identified and 20 fellow farmers were also selected for the FFS. The curriculum for FFS was drawn based on the constraints identified in the focused group discussion and preliminary survey. Ten sessions on cultivation practices of watermelon was organized during the crop period. Field day was organized to share the experiences of lead farmer with fellow farmers. The lead farmer recorded yield of 36.75t/ha in FFS plot compared to 24.0 t/ha in check plot which was an increase by 54 percent