The aim of this 4 year (2007-2011) project in Laos is to improve the productivity and profitability of the dominant lowland rice-based system, and to pursue diversification in suitable locations by adding non-rice crops under irrigation in the dry season.

The objectives of the project are:
Using an on-farm, farmer participatory approach, to select and test the best rice cultivars from improved breeding pools in the Lao improvement program.
To stimulate Lao smallholder farmers to evaluate direct seeding options for rice, to develop an appropriate seeding method, particularly under irrigation, and for the extension system to develop material to underpin the scale out of direct seeding.
To develop profitable crop, water and soil based management options for irrigated areas and enable the addition of maize, soybean and other grain legumes into the rice-based lowland ecosystem.
To develop GIS-based cropping-suitability maps for defining the domains for deployment of the new technologies.

The project has almost identical activities in three major lowland rice growing Provinces of Vientiane (including Municipality), Savannakhet and Champassak. One or two Districts were selected for each Province and farmers from one to few villages participated for activities in Objectives 1-3. The project extends rice technologies of adapted varieties and direct seeding to farmers, and develops agronomic packages for non-rice crops in lowlands. Farmer participation and economic evaluation of new technologies are two key aspects of the project.

The project commenced several months after the official commencement date of 1 April 2007. A planning workshop was held in May 2007, and a project implementation plan was subsequently developed. The project leader and the economics group at UQ have made six visits during the year to develop detailed plans and monitor the progress of the project. In addition two UQ agronomist consultants were appointed, and one of them is stationed at NAFRI-ARC in Vientiane since January 2008 to provide further inputs to the activities in Laos.

For the 2007/2008 period, the major activity for Objective 1 (Farmer participatory rice variety selection) was for farmers to select 3 promising lines among 20 rice varieties in 2007WS (wet season) in each Province. This was successfully completed with 41 farmers, and they will be provided seeds of their favourite varieties for testing in 2008WS. Similar activities have been taken, but in a smaller scale, for 2007/08DS (dry season).

The major activity for Objective 2 (Farmer testing of rice direct seeding options) was comparison of two direct seeding establishment methods, broadcasting and row seeding in 2007/08DS. Transplanting was also included in each location as a reference. Row seeders have been utilized in all provinces. In Savannakhet, weeding treatments were also included. All crops are being harvested

For Objective 3, maize (two varieties), soybean (two varieties) and mungbean were planted on a few different farms in each District. All crops were successfully harvested and results are being analysed.

GIS based water availability maps have been developed for the whole Savannakhet Province for Objective 4. The maps are developed based on the field water balance approaches and describe the commencement and end dates for rainfed lowland rice crops from estimated field water availability. The maps are also used identify drought-prone areas for rainfed lowland rice in the Province.

Despite delay in the commencement of the project, all planned activities for the 2007/08 period have been conducted and experimental and other data have been collected. The farmers, district (District Agriculture and Forestry Office), provincial (Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office), national (National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute) and international (the University of Queensland) organizations worked together to achieve the milestones of the project for the first year. A number of scientists in the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives visited Laos recently and developed a plan for their involvement in the project. The project is going to have further inputs from the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

The aim of this 4 year (October 2007-October 2011) project in Laos is to improve the productivity and profitability of the dominant lowland rice-based system, and to pursue diversification in suitable locations by adding non-rice crops under irrigation in the dry season. The project extends rice technologies of adapted varieties and direct seeding to farmers, and develops agronomic packages for non-rice crops in lowlands. Farmer participation and economic evaluation of new technologies are two key aspects of the project. The project has almost identical activities in three major lowland rice growing Provinces of Vientiane (including Municipality), Savannakhet and Champassak.
Results of experiments for Objective 1 (Farmer participatory rice variety selection) show that the varieties that have been popular in Laos such as TDK1 and TDK8 were also favourite among the participants. However new entries particularly TDK37 sister lines were very popular in all Provinces. One of the sister lines (TDK37-B-9-1-3-B) produced high grain yield consistently at all 6 locations, and appears particularly promising. The results also show that farmer preference for varieties appears different between upper and lower fields. There was only one variety that was selected as one of top 3 varieties for both upper and lower fields, this being TDK8 in Savannakhet. In all other cases, top 3 varieties differed between upper and lower fields. The yield level was lower in upper field than the lower field in Savannakhet (1.0 vs 2.8 t/ha) and also in Champassak, although the difference was reduced in the latter (2.4 vs 3.1 t/ha), while the upper field produced higher yield than lower field in Vientiane (3.6 vs 2.4 t/ha). The reduced yield in upper field is often caused by drought, and farmer preference is likely to reflect varieties' differential response to drought.
For Objective 2 (Farmer testing of rice direct seeding options), there were 10 on-farm experiments in dry season under irrigated conditions in the target Provinces to test the options of direct seeding, particularly method of direct seed establishment such as broadcasting and row seeding, and they were compared with traditional transplanting method. In some experiments, importance of weeding was tested in row seeded field. When compared with transplanted rice, broadcasting produced slightly lower yield (mean 3330 kg/ha vs 3636 kg/ha or 8 % yield reduction). Two-way Analysis of Variance shows that both planting type and Provinces had significant effect on grain yield; it was lower in Vientiane (3175kg/ha vs 3816-4049 kg/ha) than in other Provinces. Row seeding on the other hand produced yield that was very similar to transplanted rice (3559 kg/ha vs 3488 kg/ha) when weeds were controlled. Without weeding, however, yield was 3017 kg/ha or about 15% reduction, which was significant (P<0.05). Advantage of row seeding is that weeding can be readily facilitated. While broadcasting is farmers' preferred option due to reduced resource requirement for crop establishment, this may not be suitable where weeds are likely to be a major problem.
Results for maize (feed maize) in Savannakhet Province in Objective 3 indicate hard pan in lowlands has an adverse effect on maize yield. Thus when hard pan was disrupted, maize yield increased significantly from 7.2 to 8.6 t/ha. This was not due to increased irrigation water used in the disrupted treatment, but rather hard pan disruption assisting development of deeper roots with the disrupted area having lower soil mechanical resistance. Drip irrigation was compared with furrow irrigation in the same experiment. When irrigation was scheduled to occur at cumulative pan evaporation of about 40mm, drip irrigation used about 40% less water (488 vs 802mm), yet the grain yield was similar to that under the furrow irrigation. Thus water productivity (ie grain yield/irrigation water applied) increased by 78% with the drip irrigation method and by 18% with the hard pan disruption. In another treatment of less frequent furrow irrigation with seasonal water use of 528mm, the yield was still similar to that under the drip irrigation. The maize plants in the furrow irrigation treatments developed water stress, as determined by reduced leaf elongation rate, prior to irrigation, but this did not result in lower yield compared with the drip irrigation.
For Objective 4 (development of GIS-based crop suitability maps), good progress was made in developing water availability maps and methods to estimate grain yield of rainfed lowland rice under water and nutrient limitation. The water balance model that had been developed by the project was linked with water availability- yield relationship to estimate grain yield. Soil nutrient status was estimated from available information such as organic matter content, and this combined with nutrients available from applied fertilizer was used to estimate yield reduction due to nutrient deficit.

The aim of this 4 year (October 2007-October 2011) project in Laos is to improve the productivity and profitability of the dominant lowland rice-based cropping system, and to pursue diversification in suitable locations by adding non-rice crops under irrigation in the dry season. The project extends rice technologies of adapted varieties and direct seeding to farmers, and develops agronomic packages for non-rice crops in lowlands. Farmer participation and economic evaluation of new technologies are two key aspects of the project. The project has almost identical activities in three major lowland rice growing Provinces of Vientiane (including Municipality), Savannakhet and Champassak.
Results of experiments for Objective 1 (Farmer participatory rice variety selection) show that the varieties that have been popular in Laos such as TDK8 were favourite among the participants, but new lines such as R28154 were also found to be popular. Some of the lines that farmers preferred during their visit when the rice crop was maturing were found to be not always high yielding. Farmer participatory variety selection for grain eating quality was also included for the first time this year for limited number of varieties. When the results of the previous 3 seasons were considered, new advanced lines particularly TDK37-B-9-1-3-B, TDK36, TDK49, and TDK10223-3-3-B-B produced high grain yield (5-20% higher than TDK8), and TDK49 was preferred by many farmers.
For Objective 2 (Farmer testing of rice direct seeding options), experiments, demonstration and a survey were conducted to determine best-bet direct seeding method for DS. From the results of the previous season, row seeding appears promising, as weeding can be readily facilitated. While broadcasting is the farmers' preferred option due to the reduced labour requirement for crop establishment, this may not be suitable where weeds are likely to be a major problem and labour is limited. On-farm demonstrations of drum seeders were successfully conducted in three districts in Savannakhet and in Pakse District in Champassak in 2009/10DS. The fields planted with the drum seeder looked very uniform and farmers involved in the use of the drum seeder are confident of the benefit of the drum seeder. They are being compared with broadcasting in a nearby area.
In Savannakhet, we have continued to develop Ricecheck for direct seeded rice so that efficient technology transfer will take place in the near future for direct seeded rice in dry season. In both 2008/09 and 2009/10 DS, some 70 farmers were surveyed for their crop establishment and management, and these attributes were compared with grain yield. Weeds appear a major attribute determining grain yield in 2009/10 DS.
In Champassak, early December planting produced higher yield than early January planting for feed maize, but the time of planting had no effect for waxy maize and sweet corn. The long growing duration of feed maize may require it to be planted earlier at the beginning of growing season, while quicker maturing waxy maize and sweet corn varieties can be successfully grown from January planting. However, the effect of planting time was much smaller in experiments in Vientiane. November planting may be required to avoid cool period during establishment, but this depends on seasonal conditions; ie January-February was much warmer in 2010 than in 2008 and 2009.
In an experiment in 2008/09 DS, legume crops appeared to have responded well to PK and NPK fertilizer, but the effect of Rhizobium inoculation appeared to have had almost no effect on yield in mungbean and soybean although in the latter the number of nodules and total biomass were increased. In another set of experiments, tillage or no tillage had almost no difference in soybean yield but the line 44xLh-4 produced the highest yield among 8 varieties tested in all 3 Provinces.
Preliminary economic analysis indicates more favourable results for direct seeded rice than transplanted rice, but they are likely to be less beneficial than legumes and maize in dry season.
For Objective 4 (development of GIS-based crop suitability maps), good progress was made in developing water availability maps and methods to estimate grain yield of rainfed lowland rice under water and nutrient limitation. The model performance in Savannakhet indicates a strong requirement for fertilizer to achieve high rice grain yield. The work is being expanded to cover Vientiane and Champassak.

The aim of this 4 year (October 2007-October 2011) project in Laos is to improve the productivity and profitability of the dominant lowland rice-based cropping system, and to pursue diversification in suitable locations by adding non-rice crops under irrigation in the dry season. The project extends rice technologies of adapted varieties and direct seeding to farmers, and develops agronomic packages for non-rice crops in the lowlands. Farmer participation and economic evaluation of new technologies are two key aspects of the project. The project has almost identical activities in three major lowland rice growing Provinces of Vientiane (including Vientiane Capital), Savannakhet and Champassak.
Results of experiments for Objective 1 (Farmer participatory rice variety selection) show that the varieties that have been popular in Laos such as TDK8 were favourite among the participants, but newly developed varieties such as VTE450-2 were also found to be popular. Farmer participatory variety selection in the project now includes 1) mother trial where about 20 farmers participate for selection for agronomic characters and grain and eating quality from about 20 varieties at each of six sites, 2) farmers participation in growing and testing 3 of their preferred varieties on their own farms, and 3) participation by another group of more than 40 farmers to test the performance of the best 4 varieties identified by the Lao rice breeding group. Using the results of multilocation variety testing trials conducted over the last 4 seasons, we have identified a few promising lines which appeared to exceed the yield of standard variety TDK1. The highest yielding promising line is TDK37-B-9-1-3-B, which had 9% higher yield than TDK1 in 12 trials. In 2010 wet season, TDK 49 and others identified in 2009 wet season to be the best adapted to the rainfed lowland conditions were grown by over 40 farmers. A leaflet describing various characteristics of Lao rice varieties has been produced, and is in the process of wide distribution among District Agriculture and Forestry Office staff.
For Objective 2 (Farmer testing of rice direct seeding options), we have continued to develop Ricecheck for direct seeded rice in Savannakhet, so that efficient technology transfer can take place in the near future for direct seeded rice in the dry season under irrigation. In each dry season, some 70 farmers were surveyed for their crop establishment and management practices such as seeding rate and fertilizer application rate, and these attributes were compared with grain yield. Weeds have been identified to be a major factor contributing to the yield variation among farmers. Another factor identified in 2009/10 dry season to be contributing to yield variation among rice fields is the position of a paddy field within a farm; the yield at bottom position within a farm exceeded that at the top position. Other factors such as fertilizer rate and seeding rate did not correlate with grain yield in the survey conducted in two years. As weeds are one of the factors contributing to yield variation among farms and the problem can be severe, we are aiming to develop a method of direct seeding that can control weeds readily. These methods include row seeding using drum seeder and drill seeder, as well as ploughing after rice is established. While drum seeder appears superior in establishment and crop yield than broadcasting, it requires good moisture condition in the top soil for its use.
For Objective 3 (agronomy of maize and legumes in dry season after rice), we identified optimum fertilizer requirement for waxy maize and sweet corn. Nitrogen requirement is high but the rate exceeding around 120 kg/ha is unlikely to be financially advantageous, while high P and K fertilizer rates are required. These rates indicate high fertilizer requirement of maize compared with irrigated rice. However, water requirement can be reduced by applying rice straw mulch to reduce water loss through soil evaporation.
Regular insecticide application commonly prevents large loss of yield in soybean and mungbean. However some varieties such as SJ5 soybean appear to possess some resistance against a major pest of pod borer. Combined analysis across sites and years has identified varieties of soybean (SJ5, DT22), mungbean (OMx19, Chinat72) and peanuts (KKU1) to be well adapted for dry season cropping after rice harvest.
For Objective 4 (development of GIS-based crop suitability maps), maps were developed to show water availability and drought prone areas in Champassak. The model-GIS mapping method was used to predict areas of drought problems and relief when rainfed lowland rice experienced a severe drought in early part of 2010 wet season in southern Laos.