General-Secretary of the Guyana Rice Producers Association (GRPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, said the Farmer Field School continues to be a medium through which farmers can access information they need. “If we isolate ourselves we are going to have problems,” Seeraj told the Guyana Chronicle in an interview.
He maintained that it is important to engage farmers and he urged farmers to make use of this opportunity.
The Farmer Field School was initiated to ‘pool together’ the resources of the better farmers in a structured way to help address some of the concerns encountered by them in the industry. It was envisaged that this institution could be a very effective tool in bridging the yield gap, as it will bring together farmers from diverse backgrounds who will be able to share their knowledge and experience for the benefit of each other. Ultimately, farmers with limited experience will be able to access other information and techniques in planting from the ‘better’ farmers, thereby allowing them to improve on what they are doing.
The Farmer Field School is operated under four guiding principles of Integrated Pest Management (I.P.M), and these are to grow a healthy crop, to conserve natural enemies, to conduct regular field observation, and to allow farmers to become I.P.M experts.
After the launching the first field school, field school sessions started in all the Regions under the guidance of Regional Extension Officers. Seven of these schools were established with one in Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam), two in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara), one in Region Four (Demerara/ Mahaica), one in Region Five (Mahaica/ Berbice), and two in Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne).
The goal of the F.F.S is to ensure that farmers achieve maximum yield from their crop by using agro ecosystem analysis as a basis for action.
The role of the extension service at the level of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has its origins in one of the mandated functions of the organization, which is to establish facilities for the conduct of research and to conduct research relating to rice and extend to farmers through an established system the benefits deserved from such research.
The mission of Extension Service is to build partnerships and provide research based information through non-formal education to farmers in order to help them improve their economic well-being and way of life.
Specifically, it aims to create conditions whereby farmers have access to appropriate and state of the art technologies and methods for efficient production on a sustainable basis, and identify and effectively transfer improved rice varieties and crop management practices that enable farmers to produce high and stable yields of rice.
The functions of Extension Services are to provide technical production information to meet farmers needs; engage in off station testing of new varieties, fertilizers, pesticides, water management practices and land preparation operations developed by the research station; work in collaboration with farmers identifying production problems and advising on corrective measures; and providing field services in terms of   crop survey, reporting and distribution of seed paddy.