The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze factors affecting completion,
non-completion, and non-participation in five Farmer Field Schools (FFS) administered
by the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, and Marine Resources (MALMR) of Trinidad and
Tobago.
The research objectives used to accomplish the purpose of this study focused on
the relationship between participation status and 1) personal characteristics, 2)
individuals’ motivations for participation, 3) perceptions about selected farming
practices, 4) individuals’ priority rankings of their sources of information regarding
farming practices, 5) the deterrents to participation, and 6) perceptions of the usefulness
of competitions as a means for increasing the popularity of FFS.
This study employed an ex post facto, causal comparative research design. Three
instruments were developed. The sample population (N=109) consisted of farmers
classified as FFS completers (n=56), non-completers (n=15), and non-participants
(n=38). Data were gathered from late May to late September 2007.
Individuals with a greater number of participating friends are more likely to
complete the program FFS completers 1) were more driven by social reasons to participate in FFS than were non-completers, 2) possessed a greater concern for the
environment than did non-completers, 3) had higher expectations than did noncompleters
that participation in a FFS would improve their occupational performance and
status, 4) more likely than non-completers to be willing to take on the financial risks
involved in the adoption of IPM on their farms, 5) believed more strongly than did noncompleters
that IPM is compatible with agricultural practices and the market in Trinidad
and Tobago. Completers most highly value the information received from MALMR
whereas the non-completers and non-participants most highly value information received
from the agro-shops. Completers vs. non-completers and non-participants held widely
divergent views on the deterrents to participation in FFS.
The contribution of this study to the field of agricultural and extension education
is that policymakers and practitioners may use the information herein to employ
strategies that impair or eliminate the factors leading to attrition and non-participation,
thus making programs more accessible, prevent attrition, and may decrease farmers’
expenditures on pesticides, and increase income.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2629 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Goff, Samuel Neal |
| Contributors | Lindner, James R. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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