Jan 2021 ǀ Vol 2 ǀ Issue 1 ǀ Indian Entomologist ǀ 31 INDIAN ENTOMOLOGIST TOOK PRIVILEGE IN INTERVIEWING SUCH AN ILLUSTRIOUS ENTOMOLOGIST AND A BIOCONTROL PIONEER WHO IS HAILED AS THE ‘FATHER OF COMMERCIAL BIOCONTROL AND IPM IN INDIA’ Dr. T. M. Manjunath is an illustrious Agricultural Entomologist with over five decades of research and executive experience, both in the public sector as well as in national and multi-national private organizations. Born on 11 th June 1939 and brought up in Bengaluru, he was a student of Central College and obtained his B.Sc. degree from Mysore University in 1961. He started his career also in 1961 and later, while being in service, he opted for Agricultural sciences and obtained his M.Sc. degree in Agricultural Entomology from the Anand Campus of Gujarat Agricultural University and Ph.D. degree, also in Agricultural Entomology, from the G.K.V.K. campus of University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. During his long career, he served in four reputed organizations and had a diverse work culture, but he adjusted to it admirably, added his own and distinguished himself. In the early part of his career at Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control (CIBC) and subsequently at University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) - Bangalore at its Regional Research Station, Mandya, Dr. Manjunath worked extensively on biological control of a variety of crop pests that included those of rice, sugarcane, cotton, maize, coconut, vegetable and fruit crops, weeds, etc. from different parts of India. He discovered and studied a large number of parasitoids and predators, over a hundred being new records, and contributed to laying a strong foundation for biological control and IPM. He is one of the pioneers in biological control in India. Subsequently, he worked on biopesticides, pheromones, integrated pest management (IPM), insect resistant transgenic Bt-cotton and other related areas. He initiated work in these areas at a time when these were barely explored, relentlessly tried to popularize them and made several pioneering contributions. In 1981, Dr. Manjunath took a bold step. He resigned his job at the Agricultural TÊTE-À-TÊTE