The Lao-English/English-Lao Agricultural Dictionary is aimed at providing a reference for Lao working in various fields of agricultural research, agricultural extension, students, policy makers and in agricultural education, for the translation of technical agricultural words between the Lao and English languages (and vice-versa). Increased internationalization of agricultural research and related increased sharing of research and technical information, have been associated with greater use of English in the agricultural research and education sectors in the Lao PDR, creating a demand for appropriate reference material to assist in translation from English to Lao, and vice versa.

The compilation of this dictionary has been undertaken by the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Lao PDR. Support for the development of the dictionary was provided by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

This version of the dictionary represents the upgrading of an early version produced by the Lao-IRRI Project in the mid-1990s with support provided through the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC). Since the development of the initial version of the dictionary, a number of different agencies have continued to assist with its further development. In the production of this version of the dictionary, particular acknowledgement is given to the coordinating role of Mr Phonepaseuth Vongsipasom (phonepaseuth1981@gmail.com), Head of the ICT Unit within the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute. Many other people have contributed to the development and upgrading of this version of the dictionary.

Free access to this dictionary is available on the websites of the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute(http://dict.nafri.org.la) and the Australia Center for International Agricultural Research (http://aciar.gov.au)

Dr. Bounthong Bouahom

Director General, NAFRI, Vientiane, Lao PDR