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To implement biocontrol program effectively in the field, the farmers from three villages of Chikballapur District, Karnataka were trained on mass multiplication of mealybug predator Cryptolamous montrozieri (Mulsant). Training and field level demonstrations of efficacy of the methodologies improves the awareness and faith among farmers. However, actual adoption still remains low. A survey conducted by the authors shows that there are two statistically significant reasons for low adoption rate: (a) perception that chemical pesticides act much faster, and (b) biocontrol agents are not readily available in the villages. In this paper, the authors propose different approaches for countering the above two challenges. Firstly, Economic Threshold Level (ETL) of mealybug (Planococcus citri Risso) on Guava (Psidium guajava L.) infestation was determined. This paper considers 5% damage as the ETL and the statistical analysis shows that ETL is reached when the infestation density is 21 mealybugs per leaf. Farmers should be encouraged to start using IPM/biocontrol methodology as soon as the infestation reaches the ETL. This will eliminate farmer’s need of chemical pesticides for immediate result at a later stage. Secondly, a commercially viable production and distribution channel is proposed for addressing the non-availability of biocontrol agents. Authors find that rural women, specially, Self-Help-Groups, are interested in production of biocontrol agents for an additional source of income. For distribution, authors propose to use the conventional channel of village shops for seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. With an attractive commission scheme, commercial insectaries can sell biocontrol agents.Finally, our survey of 61 farmers’ a statistically significant correlation between the education levels of farmers with their awareness about crop damages. This reconfirms our belief that spread of education among rural farmers will help to establish environment friendly pest management methodologies at farm level. This will help farmers to minimize the use of toxic insecticides like Dimethoate, Methomyl etc., which are now being used by many farmers.
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