Introduction In Bangladesh, the total area under potato cul- tivation is 0.318 million hectare with a total production of 4.35 million tones (Anon 2005). Although, potato is the third largest food as well as cash crop in our country, its average yield is only 13.6 t/ha, which is very low in comparison to other neighbouring countries. Among the reasons for the low yield of po- tato, lack of quality seed tubers, lack of im- proved varieties/practices and disease prob- lems are noticeable (Hoque 1995). Farmers’ Field School (FFS) is a new approach in Bangladesh that has been introduced in potato crop to overcome these constraints and ulti- mately to increase potato production more profitably and to keep the environment safe. The concept of FFS is that it is a school with- out wall, located in the field where farmers mainly learn about improved crop manage- ment practices (Ali 1998). Or in other words, potato FFS belongs to a group of potato farmer with common goal to improve their crop management practices. The objective of potato FFS is to introduce the farmers with the constraints of potato production and to make them equipped with the technologies so that they can overcome those constraints by themselves and can disseminate the knowl- Integrated crop management in potato through farmers’ field school with special reference to women M.A. Hoque and M.S. Sultana Department of Horticulture, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh, E-mail: a64_sha@yahoo.com A B S T R A C T Integrated Crop Management (ICM) study was done in 16 locations of 4 districts of Bangladesh with different po- tato varieties during 2009-10 and 2010-2011 potato growing seasons to find out the profitability level of ICM prac- tice with farmers’ practice. A study plot was set up in each location where Integrated Crop Management (ICM) practices recommended by the Tuber Crops Research Centre (TCRC) of BARI was followed in half of the plot and in the other half, Farmers’ conventional Practices (FP) were followed. It was found in all locations that there were distinct differences between the ICM practice and the FP in respect of yield. In all locations except those of Bogra, farmers used fertilizers in higher doses than the recommended doses. Insecticides were not used even in the seed production plots in most of the study areas but fungicides were used in more than the recommended quantity re- sulting in misuse and environmental hazards. All farmers obtained lower yields in their practices than the ICM method. Incidences of different diseases were found to be higher in the FP plots than those of the ICM. Boric acid and bleaching powder had a positive effect in controlling scab and wilt, respectively. The farmers of Bogra and Comilla are likely to be benefited more by practicing ICM than those of the other districts. Benefit-Cost Ratio was higher in Munshiganj for ICM practice (2.77) on total cost basis and in Bogra for farmers’ practice (4.63) on cash cost basis. Moreover, participating women members of Farmers’ Field School (FFS) became economically bene- fited by making and selling potato chips that might leads them towards empowerment and social dignity. Keywords: Farmers’ Field School, potato ICM, women participation, Bangladesh The Journal of Plant Protection Sciences, 4(1) : 40-51, June, 2012