Qena, Egypt - In the presence of representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Egypt and regional office for Near East and North Africa region and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in Egypt (MALR), a graduation ceremony was organized for the last farmers' field schools in the current maize season.

The Farmer Field School (FFS) was in general on the maize crop and specialized in transferring experiences among the farmers themselves in order to reach sustainable solutions to control the risk of Fall Armyworm (FAW) spread within a series of awareness activities carried out by the FAO in cooperation with the various authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Three FFSs were conducted for maize crop, where farmers acquired knowledge and experiences, as well as the implementation of some agricultural practices by themselves and to see results on the field without the need for an expert or specialist for controlling FAW. FFSs were established at Dakhla, Kharga region in the New Valley, and also at village of Dandara in Qena, where these schools are considered the first model in Egypt specialized in the application of the integrated pest management approach to FAW, to be circulated in most infested regions and governorates in cooperation with MALR.

The graduation ceremony was opened by welcome remarks by Nasr el-Din Haj El-Amin, FAO Representative in Egypt, Thaer Yaseen, Regional Plant Protection Officer, Ali Soliman, Minister's consultant for Phytosanitary Affairs and Agricultural Quarantine, Ahmed Abdel Meguid, Director of the Plant Protection Research Institute, and Ashraf Abdel Razek Mohamed - Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture in Qena.

IN the opening remarks El-Amin congratulate the participants for the success of this FFS, as the FFS are a new example of transferring information and experience between farmers and finding solutions for sustainable pest management.

The farmers presented a short 15-minute show explained the difference between two farmers, one of them was part of the field school team and the other adopted the traditional method. At the end of the show, the difference in crop yield and quality was evident, as the farmer, who had taken the traditional method, wished to join the FFS in the next season.

The sustainable recommendations concluded by farmers are to follow good agricultural practices, reduce the use of highly hazard pesticides, and recommend that everyone should use natural enemies and environmentally friendly bio-pesticides as an effective alternative to chemical pesticides dangerous to human health and the environment.

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