The role of culture in farmer learning and technology adoption: A case study of farmer field schools among rice farmers in central Luzon, Philippines

The goal of this paper is to show how culture – shared norms and values – is challenged and used to facilitate cooperative behavior within the context of farmer field schools (FFS) in central Luzon, Philippines. The success of the FFS is primarily associated with cultural norms that encourage experiential and collective learning and eventually lead to the adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) methods among the farmers. The study was conducted in central Luzon, the rice granary region of the Philippines, from 1992 to 1995 and again in 1999. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed. Results indicate that a keen understanding of Filipino culture and values is essential if FFS is to be successful and if farmers are to successfully learn and practice IPM. Florencia Palis has a PhD in anthropology and is working as a post-doctoral fellow at the Crop and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. She is also an adjunct faculty member at the Department of Agricultural Systems of Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.     

Integrated pest management and plant health

Crop production and livelihoods of smallholder farmers are often threatened by crop insect pests and diseases worsening the insecurity of food.  Globalization has rapidly increased the introduction and threats of invasive pests.  Climate change results in a changed suitability of landscapes to pests, further increasing the threat and uncertainty of their impact.  Providing innovative technologies for sustainable pest management to smallholder farmers is urgently needed for food security and eliminating poverty.  The most devasting diseases and insect pests to major crops such as rice, wheat, maize and potato contribute to the largest yield losses in the world.  Under the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Chinese plant protection scientists, in collaboration with experts of different regions, carried out a specific project to prioritize top crop diseases and insect pests that affect smallholder farmers’ production globally.  After evaluation by relevant global experts, top 10 crop diseases and insect pests have been assessed as six crop diseases and four insect pests, namely cereal blast disease, potato late blight, wheat rust disease, Fusarium head blight, maize lethal necrosis disease, banana Fusarium wilt (TR4), rice planthopper, wheat aphid, whitefly, and oriental fruit fly.  Integrated pest management (IPM) guidelines for the identified diseases and insect pests have been formulated, and will be shared through a global knowledge platform.  To share the knowledge with more researchers, the IPM of four major diseases including cereal blast disease, Fusarium head blight, maize lethal necrosis disease and potato late blight were further reviewed and presented in this special focus.  The first case study is cereal blast disease caused by fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae (Zhang et al. 2022), which is a destructive filamentous fungus that infects many plants including most economically important food crops, rice, wheat, pearl millet and finger millet (Chakraborty et al. 2021; Hossain 2022).  Different pathovars of M. oryzae often infect different host plants with high specificity.  The rice blast disease caused by the Oryza pathotype (MoO) of M. oryzae can result in 10–30% yield loss in rice-growing countries, posing a major threat to rice production, especially in the small-scale farming system (Mutiga et al. 2021).  The Triticum pathotype (MoT), causing wheat blast disease, was first found in Brazil in 1985.  It has now spread to other countries in South America, and also Asian countries such as Bangladesh (Islam et al. 2016).  Wheat blast disease can result in an average yield loss of 51% in the affected field, becoming one of the most fearsome wheat diseases (Islam et al. 2020).  Because of low fungicide efficacy against the blast diseases and lack of availability of resistant varieties, control of rice and wheat blast diseases is difficult.  A combination of management strategies including early detection and utilization of biopesticides was proposed (Zhang et al. 2022), providing some helpful insights for fighting these devasting cereal blast diseases.  The second case study is the fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by FHB pathogens, which are mainly the Fusarium graminearum species complex (Chen et al. 2022).  FHB is one of the most important diseases that affects wheat production worldwide (Summerell 2019).  In general, a severe FHB epidemic occurred every four or five years in the most of wheat production regions.  Since 2010, the outbreaks of FHB have become more frequent in China.  Besides causing yield loss in affected crop field, FHB also produces mycotoxin contaminating the harvested grains, which are harmful to humans and livestock (Stepien and Chelkowski 2010).  According to the economic importance and toxicity of FHB, F. graminearum is considered as one of the world’s top 10 fungal phytopathogens (Dean et al. 2012).  Breeding resistant cultivars has been considered as the most effective strategy against FHB (Wegulo et al. 2015).  Rational use of chemical pesticides, and potential biopesticides, and good agronomic practices are also important components in the IPM programme for FHB.   The third case study is the maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND), which is a relatively new viral disease on maize (Zhan et al. 2022).  The MLND is caused by the co-infection of maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and one of cereal-infecting potyviruses, and the symptoms on maize include leaf necrosis, premature aging, small cobs and even plant death (Redinbaugh and Stewart 2018).  First reported in Americas in 1970s and 1980s, the MLND has now spread to more than fifteen countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa (Wangai et al. 2012).  The outbreaks of MLND in several Asian and African countries caused devastating damage to maize production with large impacts on smallholder farmers (Mahuku et al. 2015).  Integrated management of MLND involves effective detection methods such as serological methods, nucleic acid-based methods, and next-generation sequencing.  The practices, such as using certified seeds, sanitary measures, crop rotation, and tolerant or resistant varieties, have been considered as the effective, economical and eco-friendly approach to prevent and control MLND.The fourth case study is the potato late blight (PLB) disease (Dong and Zhou 2022).  PLB, caused by the fungal-like oomycete pathogen Phytophthora infestans, is a devastating disease worldwide that led to the infamous Irish potato famine of the 1840s.  Besides the primary host potato, P. infestans also infects other solanaceous plants such as tomato, petunia and nightshade.  These infected plants can become pathogen inoculum to potato (Kirk et al. 2003).  Originated from Central Mexico or South America, this disease has spread to almost all major potato-producing countries including the United States, Canada, China, and India (Fry et al. 2015).  Up to now, PLB remains the most important biotic constraint to potato production worldwide and presents a major threat to global food security, especially for under-developed areas that heavily depend on potato as the major source of food (Cucak et al. 2021).  Careful agronomic practices, such as using pathogen-free seed, serve as the good start for the successful management of PLB.  Chemical fungicides remain the most effective means to control the pathogen.  However, these chemical fungicides should be used more scientifically to avoid over-dosage and high cost.  Some potential environmental-friendly biopesticides have been identified (He et al. 2021).  Additionally, new technologies which may bring some innovative solutions to control PLB are also proposed.  The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), the most destructive migratory insect pest in the world, was also selected in the special focus (Li et al. 2022).  Desert locust is an omnivorous insect, feeding on more than 300 various host plants including many cultivated crops and wild plants (Li et al. 2021).  Formation of desert locust swarms and the outbreak of desert locusts are induced by a combination of environmental stimuli.  During its outbreak and migration, desert locust can cause serious damage to cultivated crops, such as cotton, alfalfa, beans, wheat, barley, corn, flax, tobacco, tomato, potato, and melons, posing a major threat to food security and rural livelihoods.  Since the 20th century, there have been 15 outbreaks of the desert locust, affecting about 30 million km² of Africa and Asia continents and the lives of 850 million people in 65 countries (Ceccato et al. 2007; Divi 2020).  Studies demonstrate the correlation between poor early childhood health and the desert locust swarm outbreak (Kien and Nguyen 2022).  To date, much research has been conducted regarding the ecology and management of desert locusts.  Climate change resulted in more favorable conditions, which is a major factor contributing to the recent outbreak of desert locust in 2020 (Peng et al. 2020).  A critical component of preventive management programs is being able to locate significant infestations rapidly.  The FAO provides forecasts, early warning and alerts on the timing, scale and location of invasions and breeding through its global Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS).  Integrated management of desert locust, mainly including physical control methods, chemical insecticides, microbial pesticides, and biocontrol methods, are summarized in ths review (Li et al. 2022).  Occurrence of plant diseases and insect pests have been worsened by climate change in many aspects.  Prevention of yield loss of major crops is critical for achieving global food security.  Not only the IPM strategies should be adopted, but also the inter-government cooperation should be encouraged to share knowledge, information and innovative solutions, and to jointly tackle with challenges caused by transboundary pests.  All these efforts are needed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.     

Local agro-ecological knowledge and its relationship to farmers’ pest management decision making in rural Honduras

Integrated pest management (IPM) has been widely promoted in the developing world, but in many regions its adoption rates have been variable. Experience has shown that to ensure IPM adoption, the complexities of local agro-production systems and context-specific folk knowledge need to be appreciated. Our research explored the linkages between farmer knowledge, pest management decision making, and ecological attributes of subsistence maize agriculture. We report a case study from four rural communities in the highlands of southeast Honduras. Communities were typified by their agro-environments, IPM training history, and levels of infestation by a key maize pest, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda Smith). Although variable, infestation levels generally did not justify pest management intervention. Consequently, crop losses from this pest were considered of low importance and most farmers proceeded in a rational fashion by refraining from action in their fields. Farmers attributed the low degree of pest infestation predominantly to abiotic causal factors (rainfall, temperature). The role of natural enemies in controlling this pest (i.e., biological control) was deemed of low importance by farmers; nevertheless, a broad array of such organisms was mentioned by farmers as operating in their maize crop. Farmers’ knowledge of natural enemies only partially matched scientific knowledge and was associated with the ecological features of their respective field settings. Local knowledge about natural enemies was mainly restricted to abundant and easily observable predatory species. Farmers who were knowledgeable about biological control were also familiar with a larger variety of pest management alternatives than uninformed farmers. Management options covered a wide range of curative techniques, including conservation biological control. Farmers who relied on insecticides to manage pest outbreaks knew less about biological control and pesticide alternatives. In contrast, farmers who received IPM training mentioned more types of natural enemies and were familiar with a broader range of alternative pest management tactics. Our research suggests that IPM training modifies local knowledge to better fit its environmental context. This paper provides insights in the environmental context of local agro-ecological knowledge and its linkage with pest management decision making. It also constitutes a basis for modifying IPM extension programs to deliver locality-specific technologies while strengthening the local knowledge base. Kris A. G. Wyckhuys is a Belgian bio-science engineer and entomologist currently employed as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota. For his PhD research at Purdue University he quantified social and ecological contributions to farmers’ adoption of insect pest management technologies in Honduran subsistence maize. He has a keen interest in the ecological facets of IPM and biological control, as well as in technological innovation in smallholder production systems, ethno-entomology and traditional pest management. Robert J. O’Neil is a Professor of Entomology specializing in biological control, predator–prey dynamics, and implementing biological control in IPM systems. His current work focuses on the ecology and management of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, an invasive pest of soybeans in North America.     

水稻重大病虫害可持续控制技术的优化集成及应用

报道了国家“十五”科技攻关计划专题“华南稻区水稻重大病虫害可持续控制技术研究”取得的有关田间试验和示范的部分进展。通过田间抗性品种评价试验,评价出可供可持续控制技术组装应用的新品种,如齐粒丝苗、丰丝占、粤秀占等;开展高效低毒药剂筛选和防治技术研究,研制的58％稻虫杀净列入台山珍香绿色稻米（农业部认证）专用杀虫剂,可替代高毒药剂甲胺磷;开展了褐稻虱对吡虫啉和扑虱灵抗药性的初步检测;研究了不同抛秧栽培密度和不同施肥模式与病虫害发生的关系,以形成适应当前优质＋低氮肥＋湿润灌溉＋放宽防治指标生产性配套技术措施控制病虫害的相关技术,为华南水稻重大病虫害可持续控制技术研究提供依据;在水稻重大病虫害可持续控制关键技术研究的基础上,提出以抗病虫优质丰产品种、控害丰产栽培和合理用药为关键措施的可持续控制技术。     

Transforming extension for sustainable agriculture: The case of integrated pest management in rice in Indonesia

Investment in agricultural extension, as well as its design and practice, are usually based on the assumption that agricultural science generates technology (“applied science“), which extension experts transfer to “users“. This model negates local knowledge and creativity, ignores farmers' self-confidence and social energy as important sources of change, and, in its most linear expression, does not pay attention to information from and about farmers as a condition for anticipating utilization. In practice, farmers rely on knowledge developed by farmers, reinvent ideas brought from outside and actively integrate them into complex farming decisions. Effective extension seems based on checks and balances that match intervention power with farmers' countervailing power, and mobilize farmers' creativity and participation in technology development and exchange. Alternative models for informing extension investment, design, and practice stress adult learning and its facilitation. The farmer is seen as an expert and farm development as driven by farmers' energy and communication. The article is a case study of a rare large scale attempt to use such an alternative model. It suggests that a shift to knowledgeintensive sustainable practices requires a learning process based on participation and empowerment.     

耕地经营规模与化肥减施效应——来自江西省水稻种植户的证据

在当前农业面源污染日益严重的背景下研究耕地经营规模对化肥减施的影响,对实现我国农业绿色可持续发展有着重大的理论和现实意义。本文以江西省8县(市)769份水稻种植农户为研究对象,利用引入工具变量的两阶段最小二乘法(IV-2SLS)探讨耕地经营规模与化肥减施效应之间的内在机理。结果表明：耕地经营规模对化肥施用强度产生了显著的影响,两者呈“U”型关系,适度规模为4.60 hm²,即化肥施用强度随着经营规模的扩大首先下降,达到适度规模后发生增长。耕地流入和耕地质量在经营规模对化肥减施效应中都产生了显著的增强性调节作用。进一步研究发现,新、老一代农户的耕地经营规模对化肥减施效应都产生了显著影响;丘陵山区的耕地经营规模对化肥减施效应产生了显著影响,平原地区不显著;二兼户的耕地经营规模对化肥减施效应产生了显著影响,一兼户不显著。因此,政府应进一步积极推动耕地适度流转。改造农业基础设施,建设高标准农田,提高耕地质量和规模化经营水平。同时对不同类型的农户和不同自然条件的地区,采取有差别的耕地保护措施。     

我国水稻有害生物综合治理体系的演变及对策

在论述有害生物综合治理体系概念和组成的基础上，回顾了我国水稻有害生物综合治理体系主要组成成份的演变和特点，分析了社会主义市场经济的发展对有害生物综合治理体系的可能影响，并讨论了相应的对策．     

Leaders,leadership, and democratization in West Africa: Observations from the cotton farmers movement in Mali

It is widely accepted that the success of rural nongovernmental organizations depends heavily on leadership and the organizational abilities of individual leaders. Drawing on the recent history of the cotton farmers' movement in Mali, this article identifies critical issues related to the development and sustainability of rural leadership. Special attention is given to how both heroic and post-heroic approaches to leadership might be joined in order to help nongovernmental organizations contribute to both political democratization and economic development.     

Reconstructing the good farmer identity: shifts in farmer identities and farm management practices to improve water quality

All farmers have their own version of what it means to be a good farmer. For many US farmers a large portion of their identity is defined by the high input, high output production systems they manage to produce food, fiber or fuel. However, the unintended consequences of highly productivist systems are often increased soil erosion and the pollution of ground and surface water. A large number of farmers have conservationist identities within their good farmer identity, however their conservation goals often need to be activated to rebalance the production-conservation meanings they give to their roles in society. In this paper we analyze US Cornbelt farmer interviews and surveys to trace how the performance-based environmental management process can be used to influence the farmer social identity and shift the overall good farmer identity towards a stronger conservationist standard. We find the continuous feedback loop in performance-based environmental management mimics the hierarchically organized feedback control processes of identity verification and can be used to help farmers activate their conservationist farmer identities at the person, role, and social levels to establish new norms for the practice of more sustainable agriculture.     

稻鸭共作对水稻病虫害及杂草的生物防治试验

稻鸭共作防治水稻病虫害、杂草和福寿螺的试验结果表明,每667 m2稻田中全天放养鸭子25只,有利于抑制水稻生育后期纹枯病的发生和蔓延,亦可不同程度降低稻纵卷叶螟的发生危害,显著降低稻飞虱的虫口密度,基本清除田间杂草和福寿螺,从而可减少农药施用量、降低施药成本和除草人工,有较好的生态效益和经济效益。     

耕地经营规模及其质量禀赋对农户生产环节外包行为的影响——基于中国广西水稻种植农户的调研数据

为了解耕地经营规模及耕地质量禀赋对农户生产环节外包行为的影响,以广西2014年典型地区的水稻种植为例,利用Poisson模型和Logit模型,以耕地经营规模及其质量禀赋作为核心解释变量,分析其对农户水稻生产环节外包决策的影响。结果表明:耕地经营规模扩大会使农户更倾向于生产环节中采用外包,尤其是在整地、收获这些劳动密集型环节;耕地肥沃程度会显著提高农户在生产环节采用外包服务的可能性和频率;出于外包成本的考虑,随着耕地经营规模的扩大,农户会减少在诸如灌溉等作业频繁的生产环节的外包可能性,也会减少整个生产环节外包的次数。     

政府介入农业有害生物风险防控的博弈分析

为探究有效防控农业有害生物的思路,从有害生物风险防控主体入手,将政府介入作为研究重点,运用博弈分析方法,探讨政府、外包公司、农户间的利益关系.首先,本研究分别对三方主体的两两博弈行为进行研究;而后,将三方主体置于一个框架进行分析,探究政府介入有害生物风险防控体系的重要性.结果表明:1)非政府参与下,外包公司与农户的调节...     

A comparison of two IPM training strategies in China: The importance of concepts of the rice ecosystem for sustainable insect pest management

Our study in China of two Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training programs for farmers shows that one is more effective than the other in reducing pesticide applications as well as in imparting to farmers an understanding of the rice ecosystem. The two training programs are based upon two different paradigms of IPM. This article uses a triangulated method of measuring concept attainment among farmer trainees in China as one measure of the effectiveness of training. Concepts of insect ecology brought about by training, as well as persistence of concepts one year after training, are measured. This information is compared to farmer data on pesticide applications and yields in order to determine the comparative effectiveness of two models of IPM farmer training in Sichuan Province. Results indicate that the Farmer Field School (FFS) model of training, based upon a new Ecology-Based IPM paradigm, is more effective than the 3 Pests 3 Diseases (3P3D) model based upon an older Economic Threshold IPM paradigm. Crop yield results and pesticide applications by farmers after training are also used to indicate which of these paradigms of insect pest control is more effective, hence scientifically accurate.     

稻型、生育期及防治措施对害虫和天敌群落的复合效应

通过对不同稻型、水稻生育期及防治措施29个群落的田间系统调查,运用极点排序法和模糊聚类法进行群落分析。结果表明,对稻田害虫和天敌群落的影响,总体上防治措施>稻型>生育期,不同稻型和水稻生育期害虫和天敌自身的特点,对不同防治措施对群落作用的效果有重要影响;早稻分蘖期和中稻分蘖期节肢动物群落具备自我调节能力,中稻乳熟期群落稳定性极差,需要人为防治措施,晚稻田群落稳定性较高。试验结果对群落生态学的研究与指导生产具有重要的理论和实践意义。     

How farmers research and learn: The case of arable farmers of East Anglia,UK.

This study of arable agriculture in East Anglia, UK, draws on the experiences of farmer participatory research and the use of indigenous knowledge in agricultural development in less developed countries. Farmers were found to be continually doing research, although agricultural science has tended to play it down. Farmers' research was found to be closely linked to the specific locality and the strategies, aspirations, and experiences of farmers. The diversity of agriculture within East Anglia makes local research necessary and the idea of blueprints for agricultural production untenable. The process of generating information can come from learning while working, which may appear to be experiential rather than experimental. Other ideas are generated by observing chance occurrences and some farmers were found to be doing more structured experiments similar to agricultural science. Criticisms of farmers' own research are reviewed. However, this paper proposes that such research should not be compared to scientific method, since agricultural science has the primary objective of generating information while farmers' research is embedded in the local context and is part of the farming practice. It is therefore necessary to have complementary roles for farmers' own research and formal research rather than an attempt to combine or translate indigenous knowledge and farmers' experimentation in agricultural science.     

Recent progress in maize lethal necrosis disease: From pathogens to integrated pest management

Maize (Zea mays),as a staple food and an important industrial raw material,has been widely cultivated for centuries especially by smallholder farmers.Maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND) is a serious disease infecting maize,which caused devastating damage in the African region recently.MLND is induced by co-infection of maize chlorotic mottle virus and one of several cereal-infecting viruses in the Potyviridae family,with the symptoms ranging from chlorotic mottle to plant death at different inf...     

Agents,vendors, and farmers: Public and private sector extension in agricultural development

Based on the assumption that agricultural technologies were available and that the problem was their dissemination and adoption, U.S. development efforts have focused on establishing public-sector extension systems for farmers in developing countries. Evaluations of government extension services in developing countries, however, have found them to be largely ineffective, especially in helping small farmers. As a result, private-sector extension is increasingly receiving attention as an alternative approach. This paper examines various characteristics of public- and privatesector extension, drawing on both the literature and a case study of government extension and farm input stores in Imbabura province, Ecuador. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of increased privatization of extension.