Intensifying upland rice Systems with Stick lac Production in Northern Lao PDR

The Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is a land-link country with a total area of 236,800 km2 and a population of 6.5 million. The country is located in Southeast Asia, bordered by Vietnam to the east, Thailand to the west, Myanmar and China to the north, and Cambodia to the south. About 20% of the area is flat land (70-200 msl), which is prevalent in the southwestern region, while the other 80% is sloping land and mountainous (200-2820 msl), which is predominant in the northern region (Figure 1.). The country has a tropical monsoon climate with mean annual rainfall of 1000-1500 mm.