Field Guide of Discovery-based Exercises for - Aseanipm ...

Section 5 • Integrated Disease Management
materials
• Office supplies (e.g., notebooks, ball pens, marking pens, crayons, Manila papers);
• Organic vegetable plots or beds mulched with plant residues (e.g., cogon grass, other weeds,
rice straws or pine needles), plastic materials (e.g., polyethylene sheets) or other materials; and
• Non-mulched vegetable plots or beds (e.g., in the same area where you have mulched vegetable
plots or beds).
methodology
• Field walk and brainstorming
steps
1. Divide participants in small groups and ask them to conduct field walks and observe as many
mulched and non-mulched vegetable plots or beds in the fields. Take note of different practices
in mulching. List down all observations related to pest and disease occurrence, crop stand,
weed growth, soil moisture conditions, etc.
2. Go back to processing area, brainstorm in small groups and present output to big group. Conduct
participatory discussions to allow sharing of experiences among participants and facilitators.
3. Synthesize and summarize output of small groups into one big group output. Draw up
conclusions and recommendations from this exercise.
some suggested questions for the processing discussion
❏ Did you observe any differences in pest and disease occurrence between mulched and nonmulched
vegetable plots or beds? What pests and diseases were more prevalent?
❏ Were there differences in weed growth and soil moisture conditions between mulched and nonmulched
vegetable plots or beds?
❏ Did you observe different mulching materials? Were there differences in pest and disease
occurrence with different mulching materials? Were there differences in weed growth and soil
moisture conditions with different mulching materials?
❏ Were there differences in cultural management practices employed when using different
mulching materials?
❏ Which mulching material was most cost efficient? Which mulching material was most practical
to use? Was mulching effective in reducing pest and disease occurrence?
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