Another factor in low adoption levels is the linking of credit available to association members with agrochemical and seed suppliers. Some farmers who had used BCAs were forced to stop using these products in order not to jeopardize their production credit. Everyone agreed that biocontrol needs to promote itself as aggressively as the agrochemical industry and several farmers suggested that traditional commercial suppliers of farm inputs should be persuaded to start distributing alternative products. Technicians felt the most useful support the MBCS should offer is quality control standards and more promotion of IPM, rather than letting farmers think that biocontrol alone will solve all their pest problems. There should also be experience sharing between farmers who collaborate on trials and with new farmers.
Subsidies are an important factor in increasing interest and uptake.
Biocontrol is a key tool in IPM but not the only one. There is a need to look at the role of native natural enemies and their possible displacement under augmentative biocontrol. MBCS should support the rapid legislation of quality control. A special symposium was held on 'Models of Participatory Research and Technology Transfer with Emphasis on Biological Control'. Leobardo Jimenez from the Postgraduate College's Centre for Rural Development and Bernardino Mata from the Rural Sociology Department at the University of Chapingo discussed the sociopolitical context for farmer-centred extension and the failure of much of Mexican agricultural research and extension to meet the needs of the smallholder and indigenous sector.