 People's Democratic Republic is a small landlocked country in the Mekong region. It is home to two World Heritage Sites. This country is rich in natural resources such as forest, water and agricultural land. Rice is a staple crop, accounting for 70-80% of food grain production. In the uplands of Laos, farmers grow rice along mountain slopes, in valleys and on terraces. Farmers mostly use slash and burn to clear land along mountain slopes and to kill weeds and soil-borne pests before sowing. These uplands have diverse agricultural environments that allow farmers to grow not only rice but also other crops such as maize, jobe's tear, small grain legumes, pepper, sesame, vegetables and fruits. Farmers mainly consume these products at home and sell small quantities for cash income. They also sell livestock and forest products such as mushrooms, bamboo shoots and medicinal plants. The major constraints to agricultural improvements in the area are low crop yields, weeds, drought, poor soils and limited access to improved technologies and information. Farmers grow crops in forest edges and on steep slopes using practices that contribute to deforestation and soil erosion. Farmers are caught in a vicious circle of low yield, high poverty and environmental degradation. To overcome these constraints, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, or IFAD, provided funding to the International Rice Research Institute to develop improved technologies for managing rice landscapes in the uplands for household food security and environmental protection. Increased rice productivity will not only increase the food supply but will also help protect the fragile upland environment by reducing pressure to increase food production in steeply sloping fields. Erie and its partners are validating technological options that combine improved plant material with appropriate resource management options for increasing productivity. The project is a collaborative effort with the Northern Agriculture and Forestry Research Center, or NAFREC, of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, also known as NAFRI. Most of the research activities were done in farmers' fields in two villages, Bon Fai and Bon Silalec. Farmers were fully involved in all stages of this process, with the aim of identifying suitable technologies that poor farmers can afford. Agriculture participatory research has identified selected and tested different rice varieties. These improved varieties have clearly demonstrated higher yield under both low and moderate fertilizer application. In addition to improved varieties, traditional varieties suited to these areas have also been identified. The project has brought back traditional varieties that are no longer grown widely because of the unavailability of seed. All quantities of seed of these varieties have been obtained from a gene bank and evaluated for their suitability. Additional quantities of seed have been produced for distribution to farmers. Scientists have demonstrated that the use of leguminous plant species, such as pigeon pea, accelerate the renewal of land productivity and give farmers an opportunity to earn additional income. For example, farmers culture stick-lack insects on pigeon pea plants and harvest stick-lack resin. Stick-lack is used for the manufacture of lacquer, and this fetches a high price in the market. Good crop management technologies that are helpful in achieving better yields were also introduced in the project. These include seed selection, testing seed germination, and weed management. The project also did research on how to control weeds. Imperata is a persistent and hard to control weed in upland rice fields. Improved methods for controlling this difficult upland weed have been validated. NAFRAC facilitated the production of more than 24 tons of seeds by farmers in 2008. This was done with farmers' participation. These seeds were made available to farmers directly and through local extension agencies. Fact sheets in the local language were published and distributed, and training activities and study tours were conducted for staff and farmers involved in the project. The project also established a partnership with different local and national institutions for regional collaboration and for promoting learning across the border. The partnership is strengthened through extended field validation in Udum Sai and Saiyaburi, neighboring provinces in Laos in which IFAD has funded large rural development programs. Improved validated technologies are being promoted to farmers who are participating in these rural development programs. Farmers like in upland or upland area because we have got upland area for rice cultivation. So, rice pigeon pea cultivation is very much like by power, so they can get rice and also they can get the pigeon pea and they also improve the soil productivity. Numerical compilations also reduce insecticides, sedanses, soil erosion also reduce and they reduce the symptom cycle. They can continue on the same piece of land for a long time. And one technology is like zero-tillage or minimum-tillage also of gaining popularity and almost farmers. Following law of government policy, we tried to stop the sled and sandburn. So now we try to increase the quality of rice. So if we cannot do it, we cannot success this. We know that and we have anywhere to stop the sled and sandburn. So the new technology is very important and we need for the villagers to train them how to grow rice and how to get high quality. In four years, the project has helped farmers to identify improved rice varieties that are suited to their conditions. The project also helped them produce good quality seeds and learn new techniques for improved crop management. Four years is a short time and the challenge remains for these farmers to continue to increase their yield. The project may be ending, but our commitment to help the farmers remains. We will continue to build on the progress made by the project to develop and provide better technologies to improve the well-being of these poor farmers.