Ist International Webinar on Vetiver Grass Technology 2021

 Central Bicol State University of Agriculture of the Philippines  https://cbsua.edu.ph/ is holding a webinar on Vetiver Grass Technology on September 28th 2021. Dick Grimshaw, Paul Truong and Robinson Vanoh of TVNI  will be participating. See attached program:

THE VETIVER LATRINE

THE VETIVER LATRINE from Roger Gietzen (see: http://www.healthy-mind-body.com/humanitarian/vetiver_latrine.html for details of vetiver latrine design and its construction)

"It's now been three years since I started installing vetiver latrines in Haiti.  For all those who helped me with that project, I want to thank you again.  You know who you are.  Here is an update on my progress: 

175 latrines have been installed in the two communities I serve.  They are providing sanitation where there was absolutely none.  The people are happy and likely healthier.  There was not a case of cholera this last year, whereas in the previous years there was always 1-2 during the rainy season. But these numbers are too small to draw conclusions from.

Land Rehabilitation in the Northern Mariana Islands of the Pacific

Mature vetiver on previously badly eroded slope

This lead photo is of the rehab work of the very heavily eroded Talakhaya Watershed located on Rota Island, Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific. Vetiver is the main plant used to rehab and reduce sediment flows to nearby coastal area. The vetiver work was initiated by Dr. Mohammad Golabi of the University of Guam and involved community participation.  This work is a very good example how the judicious use of vetiver can be used to rehab badly eroded public lands on tropical islands thus reducing sediment flows to adjacent coastal waters.

Use vetiver for cleaning up diesel and other oil contaminanted land

Agronomic and economic evaluation of Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) as means for phytoremediation of diesel polluted soils in Israel (2018) Nativ Dudai et al

ABSTRACT: Soil pollution in Israel, due to diesel contamination, is a major concern, with gas stations, factories and refineries being the main polluters (>60%). Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) is a perennial grass belonging to the Poaceae family, and is recognized world-wide for its potential as a plant with phytoremediation traits to contaminated soils. It is demonstrated here to decrease diesel contamination in field and court-yard trials. Chemical soil analysis indicated up to a 79% decrease (P < .05) in diesel pollution of contaminated soil planted with Vetiver; and at high soil contamination levels of 10 L/m2, a significant (P < .05) reduction of 96, 96 and 87% was recorded at soil depths of 0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm, respectively. Furthermore, in field plots contaminated with diesel and planted with Vetiver, weeds' biomass recovered to non-polluted levels following 8 to 9 months of Vetiver treatment. An economic evaluation conducted based on the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) principles, utilizing the Net Present Value (NPV) compared phytoremediation to other currently used decontamination procedures. The economic comparison showed that phytoremediation cleanup costs are lower and more beneficial to society at large, primarily from an ecosystem services perspective. Combining the results of the agronomic examination with the economic valuation, this research pointed out that phytoremediation with Vetiver has a non-negligible potential, making it a good solution for cleansing diesel from soils on a state-wide scale in Israel and worthy of further research and development.

Philippines - Farmer Feedback on the use of Vetiver - what they thought of Vetiver in the 1990s

The following are observations by Vetiver) users given  during a 1996 community workshop at Matalom, Leyte, Philippines. Note in this part of the Philippines vetiver is known as “Mura” or “Mora”. (Prepared by , Program Field Coordinator, FARMI, ViSCA, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines). 

Leon Pen, Barangay Chairman, Templanza, Matalom, Leyte.....”I got my first Mura (Vetiver) planting materials from one of my barangay councilmen Jacinto Gerona. I planted Mura in my farm near my house. Mura is easy to plant with minimal maintenance. It grows very well and effectively controls the down flow of soil during the rainy season. At present, the contour plots of my farm have been leveled off. In addition, I am also using Mura to cure high blood pressure in my work as Tambalan (local medicine man). The only comment I have with Mura, is that my carabaos (water buffalo) do not like to eat it”. (If you cut your Mura regularly, say once a month, your carabaos will love it...Ed)

Vetiver System for Land Restoration

If you are interested in land restoration, this video from Ecuador, by a man who knows what he is talking about, is highly recommended

Vetiver System - Vetiver Grass Technology Applications

Vetiver Grass is an absolute unique plant for many reasons, but its most impressive characteristics are that it can be grown successfully in virtually every country with a warm to hot climate, and for a large range of different applications covering a number of critical sectors relating to the environment.  Here is a list of these applications with links to some short photo presentations which helps put this plant into perspective.  Note "high resolution images are also available - click on button near bottom of table.

THE VETIVER_ SYSTEM -- OVERVIEW
VETIVER_ SYSTEM AND CLIMATE CHANGE
ABOUT VETIVER - THE PLANT	PROPAGATION & PLANTING
AGRICULTURAL USES	FORAGE AND BIOMASS
ON FARM SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION	LANDSCAPING
LAND REHABILITATION	MINE REHABILITATION
MINE REHABILITATION LARGE SCALE APPLICATIONS	COASTLINE STABILIZATION
BRIDGE PROTECTION	HIGHWAY STABILIZATION
PUBLIC UTILITY STABILIZATION	STEEP SLOPE STABILIZATION
RURAL ROAD STABILIZATION	RAILROAD STABILIZATION
UPLAND FLOOD CONTROL	LOWLAND DIKES & LEVEE STABILIZATION
RIVER BANK STABILIZATION	DAM STABILIZATION
LANDFILL TREATMENT	EFFLUENT DISPOSAL
HANDICRAFTS	OTHER USES
HIGH RESOLUTION FILES OF ABOVE APPLICATIONS
TVNI - WEBSITE - NEWS - MENU - DOCUMENTS
FACEBOOK

Please share with others who might be interested.  Thank you

Effluent crisis in densely populated countries – one possible solution – Vetiver System

Vetiver constructed wetland still working
after 12 years

Each time I open up Google Earth and look at various locations in India I see densely populated rural and urban centers, and know that many of them have no formal waste disposal systems, and are unlikely to have such facilities in the foreseeable future. In the mean time the problem multiplies as the population continues to grow.  The options are: (1) do nothing - not acceptable (2) wait for government to do something - slow and huge funding constraints (3) look for solutions that may not be perfect but will at least move towards some mitigation of the problem, (4) find solutions that depend heavily on community involvement. and supporting voluntary organizations. The problems if not at crisis level now, will be a crisis in the foreseeable future - that means soon – it also means that options 3 and 4 have to be given serious consideration.

WHY, WHY, WHY??

WHY, WHY, WHY, don't those responsible for public works protection and maintenance use the VETIVER SYTEM ?

Since 2000 the Vietnamese provincial governments have been testing and using the Vetiver System, at large scale, for highway (Ho Chi Minh Highway) - http://www.vetiver.org/ICV6_PROC/BIOENGINEERING%20/1%20Tran%20Tan%20Van%20Presentation.pdf - and for Sea Dyke Protection in the Mekong Delta http://www.vetiver.org/VNN_Estuary%20dikes.pdf - These are a very important applications and show the impact of vetiver over 8-15 years of use. When the Vietnamese under take trials, they don't mess around with a few meters, instead they think kilometers! I can see VS application for highway and sea dike protection in many countries, but specifically in south and East Asia (China, Philippines, Indonesia. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and India). VS protection is long lasting and a very low cost (as much as 90% over conventional practices). The Vietnamese experience is FACT not FICTION and is applicable most places in the tropics. Why is it not being used widely? Many answers - the most important being: lack of knowledge, "too good, too cheap" syndrome (in other words PROFITS), and entrenched traditional habits or ignorance by those responsible - and in the latter I include many of the international and bilateral agencies! Please CORRECT me if I am wrong. Thank you Vietnam for showing the way.
Dick Grimshaw

VETIVER SYSTEM AND DROUGHT - How Vetiver saved a farmers herd of cattle in Venezuela

Climate change is resulting in severe droughts in some parts of the world.  The Vetiver System if applied and managed as a forage crop could provide communities and farmers greater resilience and protection.  Analysis of vetiver leaf shows that at a young stage its nutritional value is as good as the popular tropical grasses such as Rhodes, Napier, Star, Kikuyu and others. The key question is how to manage vetiver in order to  produce a quality forage.  Small farmers in Gundalpet, south India, know - they cut their vetiver hedges every three weeks - great forage! We need to apply an appropriate management approach, probably following controlled strip grazing or rotational grazing practices, for those farmers who could use vetiver as a forage crop at large scale. Here follows an interesting and related story from Raphael Luque of Venezuela titled "Vetiver Saved My Herd"

VETIVER SYSTEM - BUILDING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE - Managing Polluted Water

Some of the 100 volunteers

A major TVNI objective is to give, through VS, the ability for communities to build resilience to climate change and associated problems created by unregulated third party activities - as in this case the disposal of toxic organic chemicals that pollute community drinking water sources.  There is always a high tech solution available, but most of the time the latter are too costly and out of reach of the majority of communities.  In an earlier blog I wrote about VS latrines that are providing relief to rural folks in Haiti and the positive social health related benefits. This blog focuses on the potential application of VS to clean up illegally dumped phenols that have polluted community groundwater sources in Thailand and are of great health concern.  

VETIVER SYSTEM. RAILWAYS, and CHINESE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES

Side slope of road cutting (height: 15-20 m)
2 years after vetiver grass planting

The Vetiver System has been successfully applied to a number of important railroads in China since 2000. A paper presented at ICV6: "Application of Vetiver Grass for Protection of Railway Side Slopes"  by Xinmin Jiang, Tian Guan, Deyou Hu and Lehong Tang (email: tanglh@jstp.com) provides good evidence of the success and longevity of the applications over time by the Shanghai Railway Bureau.

The 6th International Vetiver Conference – May 5-8 2015

The 6^th International Vetiver Conference – May 5-8 2015.  This conference, “Vetiver System: Empowering Sustainable Development”, is only 3 months away and will be held in Danang, Vietnam.. 

Indonesian environmental volunteers embrace the Vetiver System

President Jokowi's Head Advisor,
 Ret.Gen. Hendropriyono and Irma Hutabarat

Vetiver System has been used in Indonesia for at least 20 years, and in particular the East Bali Poverty Project used VS for a number of effective applications.  Other groups and companies have used VS applications ranging from soil conservation to waste water treatment.  Now there are some new players who could have a significant impact on the widespread promotion of VS.  President Jokowi is a keen environmentalist and intends to do something about the deteriorating environment.

Application of Vetiver System for Control of River Erosion

We are lucky to have dedicated and committed engineers like Shantanoo Bhattacharyya Executive Engineer, of Assam's (India) Public Works Department who has been working for the past eight years in applying vetiver for slope stabilization, particularly for stabilizing the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra River and its distributaries.  In his photo essay he describes diagramatically the various types of river bank erosion problems and how they can be solved by either the Vetiver System as a stand alone technology or when necessary with other technologies.  On average the Brahmaputra in India is causing the loss of 8,400 ha of land a year.  Shantanoo shows how this can be reduced by using VS when applied correctly.  In fact when using vetiver there appears to be a net gain in silt deposition!  This photo essay, along with his comments, should provide some confidence to others who have to tackle similar daunting tasks.  I would like to underscore the importance that stabilizing river bank slopes can be extremely complex, and a knowledge of engineering is essential if the job is to be successful.  This means good design work, good application and supervision, and adequate follow up maintenance. Shantanoo also confirms the need: for community involvement (both for labor, plant propagation, and maintenance); for policy makers to include VS into the design requirements; and adequate numbers of trained professional staff to assure proper application.  Thank you Shantanoo!
Dick Grimshaw

Stabilization of a 2000 km highway in Vietnam. The vital role of the Vetiver System.

Recently Paul Truong revisited sections of the Ho Chi Minh Highway, Vietnam, that have been stabilized with Vetiver System applications. He prepared this photo essay that shows the impact of VS over a fouteen year period. (2000 - 2014).  We are indebted to Van Tran and Van Man (former and current Vetiver Network coordinators in Vietnam for some of the photos and the incredible work that was performed on this highway that follows the alignment of Vietnam's famous Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The work and impact of these VS applications have to be considered, with the test of time, successful. There were some slips (1 meter and 10 meter deep) that VS could not prevent, even so the overall results were excellent. Contrary to views of some critics the Vetiver System: (a) protected slopes of over 60%, (b) protected slopes against very high rainfall, (2000 mm per year) including extreme events under typhoon conditions, (c) provided a microclimate that allowed native plant species to naturally establish and eventually shade out the vetiver to the extent that in 2014 there is little evidence of vetiver in the earlier plantings - NOTE where native species did not establish vetiver continued to grow and protect the slopes, (d) resulted in a much reduced investment cost (estimated at 90% of hard engineering solutions), and minimum annual maintenance costs, and (e) proper engineering design assures even better results of VS application as a stand alone technology or in combination with hard engineering technology.

The experience on this highway confirms that VS could be applied widely for slope stabilization in developing countries where climate permits and where labor is relatively cheap.  It also confirms the need for good engineering design.

Dick Grimshaw

Soil Erosion - A Hidden Catastrophe not far away!

Erosion in Uganda

David Pimentel and Michael Burgess (both of Cornell University) have published a paper "Soil Erosion Threatens Food Production" that everybody who works in the agricultural and natural resources sectors should read. An abstract of their paper follows: "Since humans worldwide obtain more than 99.7% of their food (calories) from the land and less than 0.3% from the oceans and aquatic ecosystems, preserving cropland and maintaining soil fertility should be of the highest importance to human welfare. Soil erosion is one of the most serious threats facing world food production. Each year about 10 million ha of cropland are lost due to soil erosion, thus reducing the cropland available for world food production. The loss of cropland is a serious problem because the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural Organization report that two-thirds of the world population is malnourished. Overall, soil is being lost from agricultural areas 10 to 40 times faster than the rate of soil formation imperiling humanity’s food security".  

Also recently a young Ethiopian graduate, Tekalign Negash Terefe, carried out a study, "Farmers’ Perception on the Role of Vetiver Grass in Soil and Water Conservation in South Western Ethiopia:-The Case of Tulube Peasant  Association; Metu District" of a farmers' association that used vetiver for soil and water conservation.  The study, although not large, arrived at some interesting findings and insights. Part of the abstract reads "This study identified that Vetiver grass is the cheapest and easily handled by farmers of the area. The assessment of farmers’ perception on Vetiver grass and its use for soil and water conservation showed that most of the farmers got awareness by the NGOs. But illiteracy, land size and ownership problems hinder the further expansion of vetiver grass to the area.  This study also identified that Vetiver grass is a very simple, practical, inexpensive, low maintenance and very effective means of soil and water conservation, sediment control, land stabilizations and rehabilitation. Farmers who planted vetiver grass on their farm land have been benefited both in land management and as a source of income which improved has their socio economic status in the community". 

David Pimentel is a well known and respected scientist, who incidentally was part of the National Research Council committee that reviewed the potential of Vetiver Grass and published - Vetiver Grass - A Thin Green Line Against Erosion (1993), and his views and comments, although not necessarily new, are important, and in the paper he and Michael Burgess ably bring together a wide disclosure of the rather threatening problems we will face as a result of a failure to control erosion.

Tekalign Terefe, a young man with less experience, has carried out a useful field study of how some of the problems highlighted in the Pimentel - Burgess paper can be mitigated through the Vetiver System when applied by small farmers in the developing world and what may be preventing an expansion of the technology.

I suggest that you read both and share with others!

Dick Grimshaw

Vetiver Bioengineering in Venezuela

Reviewing the papers and presentations delivered at the October 2013 Vetiver Conference in Colombia there is one on Bioengineering in tropical Venezuela that should be read. (Non Spanish readers should use Google translate or just look at the presentation). The paper and presentation were made by Rafael Luque whose company "Vetiver AntiErosion" has been in operation for more than 10 years now and has applied vetiver for a wide range of engineering and phytoremedial uses including, road stabilization, gully control, bridge abutment protection, river bank stabilization, protection of electricity pylons, and rehabilitation of mine land.  Some of the applications can be considered "extreme".  In all cases the quality of application, the quality plants and the results have been very good.  Rafael will be the main resource person at an up coming Vetiver workshop in Brazil from April 24-25, 2014.  Brazilians should take the opportunity to attend.

Dick Grimshaw

Vetiver System Videos in Spanish - an old but useful collection

Jim Smyle sent me the links to some very useful short videos about vetiver that he made following Hurricane MITCH (1998).  Please use them as and when you need them:
Vetiver Para La Bioingenieria - #1 El Problema (1999) 
Vetiver Para La Bioingenieria - #2 Planta (1999)
Vetiver Para La Bioingenieria - #3 Historia (1999)
Vetiver Para La Bioingenieria - #4 Bioingenieria (1999)
Vetiver Para La Bioingenieria - #5 Taller de Reconstruccion Post-Mitch (1999)

Dick Grimshaw

Flood control, groundwater recharge and erosion control. The Vetiver System can mitigate all three at the same time.

Storm hydrograph affected by different barriers.

The Guardian has an interesting article by George Monblot titled "Drowning in Money: the untold story of crazy public spending that makes flooding inevitable". In summary he links the huge amount of money that is spent in the United Kingdom on flood protection in lowland areas, with little effect, to the similarly large sums of money that are provided in the form of subsidies to farmers to increase field size through the removal of hedgerows and trees (deforestation) from upland areas and hill farms. Some folks are starting to see better ways of dealing with these issues. Quote " .... One day a government consultant was walking over their fields during a rainstorm. He noticed something that fascinated him. The water flashing off the land suddenly disappeared when it reached the belts of trees the farmers had planted. This prompted a major research programme, which produced the following astonishing results: water sinks into the soil under trees at 67 times the rate at which it sinks into the soil under grass (shallow rooted grass pastures -- Ed). The roots of the trees provide channels down which the water flows, deep into the ground. The soil there becomes a sponge, a reservoir which sucks up water and then releases it slowly. In the pastures, by contrast, the small sharp hooves of the sheep puddle the ground, making it almost impermeable, a hard pan off which the rain gushes".

I know England well, I was born and schooled there.  I have walked the ancient hedgerows of western England. Guess what - wherever there are hedgerows soil has stacked up behind them creating areas for infiltration and reduction in severity of the flood hydrograph (i.e. flood water is reduced and released at a slower rate).  Where the hedgerows have been removed there is no such slow down and we see the result in the red sediment laden streams and dirty near land sea water.

In the US at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (NSNWR) located in Prairie City, Iowa, experiments are being conducted to see how deep deep rooted prairie grasses when planted in strips on arable land will amongst other attributes reduce runoff and improve water recycling.

Those of us who work with vetiver grass have known for years that when planted as a contour hedgerow vetiver will significantly reduce rainfall runoff, will positively influence flood hydrographs by reducing, and slowing the release of potential flood water from upper watersheds, and will almost block all eroded soil from moving down the slope, and at the same time will reduce actual erosion by reducing the concentration and velocity of runoff. 

So lets have a look at some of science behind this phenomena when it comes to vetiver barriers: