Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Wagga Wagga will next week host a delegation from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR) as part of a large research project aimed at finding ways to alleviate poverty of farming families in rain-fed areas in the South East Asian nation. The $5.1 million project, ‘Developing improved farming and marketing systems in rain fed regions of southern Lao PDR’, involves researchers from institutions in Laos and Australia and is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and led by Strategic Research Professor at CSU, Professor Len Wade. He will accompany the delegation, headed by the Director General of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) in Lao, Dr Bounthong Bouahom. On Monday 21 February, the delegation will visit research facilities at CSU in Wagga Wagga, including the new $2.4 million underground field research laboratory known as a Rhizolysimeter. The delegation, which will also be accompanied by Research Program Manager at ACIAR, Dr John Dixon, will visit rice farms and fisheries while in the Riverina. Field research is underway in several locations in provinces of southern Laos, and Professor Wade will travel to Lao PDR on Friday 25 February for the annual review of the project as well as visit field sites in the country.