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The consultation meeting on Land Resource Information Management Systems and Agro-Ecological Zoning was held on 3rd May 2018, at the meeting room of the Department of Agriculture Land Management (DALaM) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Vientiane Capital with the participation of multiple ministries, research institutes and bilateral cooperation entities.

The objective of this meeting is including:

1. to present the concept and vision of the project and to show input, output and outcomes;
2. to discuss and share opinion on data and information availability, finding suggestion on data sharing agreement and on mechanisms about how to access the data.

In addition, the meeting was set to discuss and initially agreed on what type of crops and farming system are to be used for LRIMS. All participants had a very positive reception of the Land Resource Information Management Systems (LRIMS) that was presented as a demo version.

All Department expressed their interest in being part of the final version and to input data in the and Agro-Ecological Zoning (AEZ). In terms of data collection and data sharing, all participates suggested and agreed that DALaM will prepare official letters to be submitted to all concerned sectors and departments who host data that are relevant to the LRIMS. In addition, the data sharing agreement with data providers will be prepared within a year and a successive consultation will be held again, if necessary. Analysis and qualification of collected datasets and consultation with data providers will take place between June 2018 to September 2018.

All participants also agree that the Agro-Ecological Zoning (AEZ) should focus on the government priority crops. These are the nine main crops of interest in the country.

It was also highlighted that the crops should be simulated and differentiated based on the relevant agricultural production systems (for example: plain, plateau and upland). In addition, it is importance to simulate existing farmers’ preference to simulate realistic future scenarios. For example there are certain crops that can be growth everywhere, but for certain areas are “identity crops” and the taste is better in certain specific regions. Also, farmers market access and importance of the system from which the farmer prefer and are able to get more revenue from is very important. Finally, it is important to exclude areas with un-exploded ordonnances (UXO) or with serious pollution issues UXO leaking.