Changing farmers' perception of pests through participatory experiments

Most rice farmers in Asia overestimate yield losses due to insect pests. A pilot project in Leyte, Philippines, explored the use of a simple pest management rule: 'in the first 30 days after transplanting, leaffolder control is not necessary'. Farmer experiments were implemented in which this approach was compared with the normal insecticide treatment, yield comparisons were made, and the changes in farmers' attitude were assessed