To ensure a sustainable strategy of development of the agroecology in Laos, it is necessary: • To precede in a integrative and participatory way since, only the direct and volunteer involvement of each actor will make it possible to make sure that the objectives and the means mobilized to achieve these goals are well shared and accepted by each one, • To approach jointly and in close interaction with the technical aspects all the socio-economic favorable conditions for the appropriation, the diffusion and sustainability of dynamic in progress

A holistic approach, based on a permanent link between research and development, has been implemented by the Lao National Agro-Ecology Programme (PRONAE – PCADR,NAFRI), the Rural Development Project of the four southern districts of Xayabury province (PASS – PCADR, LCG), and the Sector-based Programme on Agroecology (PROSA, MAF), in partnership with the department of agriculture and forestry of Xayabury and Xieng Khouang provinces.

The National Agroecology Programme (PRONAE) and the Southern Xayabury Application Point (PASS) of the Capitalization and Rural Development Support Programme (PCADR) have developed an approach in the provinces of Xayabury and Xieng Khouang that relies on direct sowing mulch-based cropping systems (DMC). This approach has provided relevant alternatives to traditional agricultural practices which can no longer ensure the foundations of sustainable agriculture.

The National Agroecology Programme (PRONAE) and the Southern Xayabury Application Point(PASS) of the Capitalization and Rural Development Support Programme (PCADR) have developed an approach in the provinces of Xayabury and Xieng Khouang that relies on direct-sowing mulch-based cropping systems (DMC). This approach has provided relevant alternatives to traditional agricultural practices which can no longer ensure the foundations of sustainable agriculture.In view of the results obtained, be they socio-economic or environmental, the Council of Ministers asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) to promote these techniques throughout the country, and called for this approach to be included in university and school courses. It is in that context that the Sector-based Agroecology Programme (PROSA), whose main aim is to define and implement a national strategy for the dissemination of Conservation Agriculture based on agroecological techniques (DMC), operates.This strategy is based on implementing an Agroecology Action Plan relying on the necessary incorporation ofnatural capital in rural development policies. The plan involves programming activities, setting in place decision-making and operational processes and bringing into play financial, material and human resourceson both a central and local level (province, district and sub-district). The finest level of intervention comprisesgroups of farmers linked to service centres set up by the government within the districts (Kum Ban Pattana). On each level, the agroecology action plan is to arise from an integrated and concerted approach, in which each category of rural development stakeholders is committed to a process in which their needs and skills are acknowledged by all. Likewise, on each level, it is necessary to define, in a concerted manner, the initiatives that have to be taken (diagnosis, planning, implementation, monitoring-appraisal), the tools required (training of the different stakeholders, organization and structuring of the State sector and of the private sector, contractualization between stakeholders) and the fields of involvement (extension, local development funding arrangements, management of natural resources, equipment management, organization of supplyand marketing chains, etc.). Each of the two pilot provinces, Xayabury and Xieng Khouang, is in the process of defining its Provincial Action Plan in Agroecology. An initial diagnosis of farming systems and their environmental impacts, along with the needs and contributions of each category of stakeholders, has been completed. The provinces then gave priority to defining decision-making and operational processes, and setting in place financial arrangements for the Provincial Action Plans. Initially, two funding tools are under consideration: constitution of a development fund, and agricultural credit. On a central level, the decision-making and operational processes are directly attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, notably via the Planning Department. The creation of a Research and ServiceProvider Centre in support of local and national development is envisaged. Likewise, on a central level, it is a matter of facilitating the implementation of training plans for the different stakeholders. Lastly, the inclusionof agroecology in university and school courses is under way. Also for the educational sector, it is necessary to define a training plan to strengthen the skills and abilities of teachers. The creation of a national, or even regional network associating agricultural faculties and agricultural schools would enable an economy of scale by more effectively taking advantage of complementarities and decentralization to a more functional local level.

Farming systems throughout the Lao PDR have changed drastically over the last 15 years due to a range of factors. In some areas where market forces are prevalent, shifting cultivation systems have given way to more conventional high-input agricultural systems. In other more remote areas, the traditional swidden system with long rotations has been put under pressure primarily due to modification of land access and increasing population pressure. In southern Xayabury in the Mekong corridor, where there is access to the Thai market, land preparation has become based on burning residues and ploughing on steep slopes. Because of the environmental and financial costs of land preparation, farmers are shifting to herbicides, which lead to chemical pollution, while crop residues and weed mulch are usually burned, thereby increasing mineral losses and erosion on bare soil. In mountainous areas such as Xieng Khouang Province, the rationale of shifting cultivation is collapsing as farmers use land for longer periods of cropping and return more frequently to each field. A holistic research approach has been implemented in Xayabury and Xieng Khouang to find direct seeding mulch-based cropping (DMC) systems that are compatible with farmers' strategies and which can be reproduced inexpensively on a large scale. The methodological framework, based on five main components, emphasises the process of adaptation and validation by farmer groups, meaning that priorities are defined by smallholders in light of the constraints of their farming systems and the overall environmental conditions.

The mission took place from 8 to 18 may 2005. Financed by AFD, it was requested by the Laotian Ministry of industry, NTPC and AFD. It was conducted within the framework of the coming resettlement of farmers whose present land on Nakai plateau will be flooded by water impounded by the Nam Theun dam at the end of 2009.

The present study, conducted during the rainy season 2002, analyses agro-economic components of conventional transplanting and direct seeded rice on lowland ecosystem (lower and upper terrace). Direct seeded rice varieties, on weeds and rice residues, have been tested on uppers terraces where no conventional rice system could be performed.

Implementing direct seeding techniques and rotations with cash crops for the upland rice system. Two main systems of direct-seeded rice were conducted are implemented : i) on former crop residues, ii) on former and cover crop(Brachiaria ruziziensis).

Since the 1990s, in the southern districts of Xayabury province in the Mekong corridor, traditional farming systems have changed through extensive agricultural development based on cash-crop production. This development, by way of intensification, depends on local market accessibility, transfer of technologies from Thailand and the financial capacities of local enterprises. Thai Inputs, heavy mechanisation and technical skills are imported and cropping is largely opportunistic, following Thai market demand. Land preparation, based on burning residues and ploughing on steep slopes, has allowed for cultivation of large upland areas. As a result of this development, combined with land allocation and increasing population density, fallow periods are disappearing. Furthermore, this resource-mining' generates land erosion, fertility loss, yield decline and chemical pollution as well as destruction of roads and paddy fields. In light of this, the Lao National Programme of Agroecology has implemented a holistic research approach in order to propose various systems for integrating crops and livestock production to farmers. From a large range of technologies that were tested, maize production using direct seeded grain on former crop residues under no-tillage systems has been implemented. Results achieved'under the various conditions are presented in this paper: the yields obtained are close to and sometimes even higher than those obtained in conventional systems. Labour, costs, soil erosion, net income and labour productivity are also all observed.

La programmation de la recherche agronomique d'accompagnement du PRODESSA découle du diagnostic a gro-socio-économique initial qui se dégage des différentes études conduites depuis 1995 dans le Sud de la Province de SAYABOURY (CIRAD-CCL, INRAF-CNRA), des actions de recherche cotonnière encadrées par l'INRAF-CNRA/CIRAD-DORAS, des objectifs généraux de la recherche retenus dans l'étude de faisabilité du PRODESSA que finance L'AFD et des termes de référence de cette mission.