THE VETIVER NETWORK INTERNATIONAL

Patron - H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand

The Vetiver Network International (TVNI) promotes the worldwide use of the Vetiver System (VS) for a sustainable environment particularly in relation to land and water. The Network is a true network of individuals, groups, communities, entrepreneurs, and social organizations working together. The "networking" part is all voluntary - no managers and no remuneration! We believe that it is one of the most effective non profit environmental organizations in the world and is impacting greatly on all levels of society. The VS provides significant economic, environmental and social benefits. VS is now used in most tropical and semi-tropical countries, north to Italy and south to Chile. Based on research and demonstrations through TVNI “partners,” including research institutions, development agencies, NGO's and the private sector, VS has expanded from a technology primarily for farm soil and water conservation to include major applications for: ..... more
FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT - NEW - The Sixth International Vetiver Conference (ICV6) is to be held in Vietnam in from May 5-8 2015. Put this date on your calendar and participate. The Vietnamese have a lot to show, and there will be world wide input showcasing what the Vetiver System can do for Empowering Sustainable Development. Watch the conference website as it develops over the next few months. See Invitation presentation and July 31 2014 FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT .......NEW
VETIVER SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE STABILIZATION. Paul Truong, TVNI's Technical Director has been visiting Argentina and Brazil, and has found an expanding interest in the Vetiver System for infrastructure stabilization. There are many companies in Latin America using VS for this purpose and following Paul's visit and presentations he has given we can expect more companies taking up the technology. You can find a pdf of his excellent presentation here. THE KING OF THAILAND VETIVER AWARDS - ANNOUNCEMENT - On the occasion of the Sixth International Conference on Vetiver (ICV-6), which will be held in Danang, Vietnam, between 6 – 8 May 2015, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Chairperson of His Majesty the King of Thailand’s Chaipattana Foundation and Patron of The Vetiver Netrwork International, has graciously granted US$ 15,000 from the Chaipattana Foundation for “The King of Thailand Vetiver Awards” for six most outstanding works on vetiver (prize money of US$ 2,500 each). You are invited to make submissions for these awards. See: Details and download THE VETIVER NETWORK INTERNATIONAL AWARDS - ANNOUNCEMENT - The Vetiver Network International is pleased to announce the sixth series of Vetiver Awards in anticipation of the Sixth International Conference on Vetiver (ICV-6), to be held in Danang, Viet Nam, 6-8 May, 2015. Past competition for the Vetiver Awards has resulted in information that significantly increased our knowledge of the uses of Vetiver Grass, its applications and benefits. The Awards (that include some monetary prizes) will be made at the the Sixth International Vetiver Conference in Vietnam. You are invited to make submissions for these awards. See: Details and Download
CHINA - Railway Embankment Stabilization using Vetiver System. Liyu Xu, who started the China Vetiver Network in 1996, has produced a short description and images14 years after the Xinchang railway Company planted 120,000 vetiver slips to stabilize a very difficult railway embankment using a sand fill. The vetiver was effective within 2 months of planting. The vetiver is still there and native plants have naturally colonized the embankment. Very poor farmers from the Dabie Mountains provided the original planting material, and since then farmers have cut the grass on the embankment for other uses, and have as a result provided the required "maintenance". China Railways has accepted the technology and promotes its use where appropriate. Everyone has benefited. What more does one need?!!
INDONESIA - GREEN REVOLUTION WITH VETIVER - REVOLUSI HIJAU! - The 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, infrastructure stabilization, mine rehabilitation, river clean up, to waste water treatment. Now there are some new players who could have a very significant impact on the widespread promotion of VS. President Jokowi is a keen environmentalist and intends taking some serious action regarding Indonesia's deteriorating environment. His friend, Irma Hutabarat, is also an environmentalist as well as being a well known figure on Indonesian TV (see picture at right of the President and Irma). Earlier this year she attended the Philippines workshop on VS that was organized by another committed environmentalist, key vetiver promoter, and owner of Vetiver Farms (Philippines) - Noah Mary Manarang. Irma was very impressed, she realized the potential application of VS for solving a number of land and water related environment problems in Indonesia (the absolutely ideal climate for growing vetiver), and on return (March 2014) discussed the potential with President Jokowi, who at that time was Governor of Jakarta, and who gave a solid commitment of support endorsing, where appropriate, the wide application of the Vetiver System. Since then Irma has created a network of thousands of volunteers known as "LV" or Laskar Vetiver, meaning Vetiver Warrior, from communities, universities, private sectors, professional organization , government officers and political leaders. Irma has been renamed by the vetiver community in Indonesia as "Inang Vetiver" - "Vetiver Mother" - Very suitable for this caring and dynamic woman. Already some volunteers have created social media groups and have started planting - Inang Vetiver sends them the vetiver slips and the brochures - they are said to have enormous amounts of enthusiasm and spirit. Inang Vetiver is supported by local experts as well as by the international Vetiver community. This program of dissemination of Vetiver information is called Revolusi Hijau (Green Revolution with Vetiver). Its a great start to what we all hope will be very large program relating to land and water rejuvenation and protection. Please support these efforts.
MADAGASCAR - Savonnerie Tropicale Huilerie de Melville (STHM) is the only certified organic palm oil plantation in Mascareignes Island and running a mill to manufacture certified Organic Crude Palm Oil on the East coast of Madagascar. The plantation, 3,000 Ha of land,i has 180 km of road; 80 km of drains, and 30 km of river bank. Vetiver, Chrysopogon zizanioides (South India type - essentially sterile) was introduced in 2004 for soil and moisture conservation, and in particularly for drainage protection. Since then STHM has extended the use vetiver for many activities such as river bank protection, slopes stabilization, mulching…… This ideal plant was introduced in 2004 to the plantation by contract with CTHT (Centre Technique Horticole de Tamatave) to reduce erosion, increase soil keep moisture and to stabilize waterway protection. In 2005, STHM started serious work with Vetiver with the intention of substituting previous used costly cement and rock "hard systems" with vetiver's fibrous and massive root system thus saving significant expenditures. In 2007, STHM used vetiver on "Ivondro" river bank protection, following the company's successful experience in drainage and waterway stabilization. Since 2008 STHM has supplied high quality vetive to other companies that want to produce organic essentials oils, keep moisture in the soil, groundwater recharge, and slope protection. STHM is currently testing Vs for treating Pam Oil Mill Effluent (POME). TVNI has recently certified STHM as profficient in Nursery Propagation and Supply, Social and Water Conservatiion and Extension. STHM's submission for certification is available and should be interesting for existing and potential vetiver users.
ITALY- Andrea Rossi of Vetiver Toscana has been certified by TVNI as technically proficient in Nursery Propagation of Vetiver, and Soil and Water Conservation. Andrea has an excellent nursery with an interesting feature of a mechanized potting system that produces 3000 pots per hour. He is also using VS for soil and water conservation within his vineyards with some interesting results. Andrea and his wife Valentina have also established Vetiver Toscana as a network to promote VS widely in Tuscany and northern Italy. Great work! See his submission:http://www.vetiver.org/ITA_Andrea%20Rossi_o.pdf
Controlling Erosion on the banks of the Brahmaputra River. 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 and in photos 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 loss 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!
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 land 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 designs would assure 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.
VETIVER SYSTEM - A SOLUTION FOR URBAN WASTE WATER TREATMENT IN THE TROPICS?: In most cities, towns, and villages in developing countries there is no connection to a public sewage/waste water treatment. Where there is a connection the effluent is often discharged without treatment to near by rivers. Where there is no sewage system some properties may have septic tanks, and the majority of these leak and miss function. The result is that water tables, water bodies, and the local environment are polluted with consequential increases in foul smelling air, undrinkable water, and increased water borne diseases. One such an example, described in a World Bank report on Indonesia describes the city of Palembang, South Sumatra, with a population of over a million having no direct sewage connections, and 70% of the households having septic tanks, of which 30% miss function. Correcting this situation with conventional costly technologies for Palembang, and tens of thousands of other urban centers in the tropics will be prohibitive and will take decades. It is essential to start installing low cost, flexible, and sustainable remedies, that might not be perfect, but are able to reduce the problems significantly. The Vetiver Phytoremedial Technology (VPT) as developed by Paul Truong is one such solution. Read more ......
ALLEVIATING POVERTY IN THE THIRD WORLD -- THIS IS ALL IT TAKES! John Greenfield provides a timely reminder that it is easy to lose focus on the essentials of improving crop production. He has prepared a note that underscores that lack of focus. "There is only one way to make rainfed subsistence farmers capable of producing food and cash crops on a sustainable basis, and that is by controlling runoff, no matter how little or how much, but by controlling runoff using dense vetiver hedges planted across the slope, as seen below. This is all it takes. A simple vetiver hedge planted across the slope, as shown here, is anchored in to the ground by its massive 3+ m vertical root system. This is all the rainfed farmer needs to control runoff, slow it down, spread it out and prevent the loss of soil and nutrients, at the same time store essential soil moisture under rainfed conditions, for sustainable crop production. This non-invasive hedge of vetiver grass once established will last for decades without any special maintenance". Read more
CONSERVATION MARKETING: For a number of years we have seen an increasing number of small farmers selling vetiver planting as a commodity to other farmers, construction companies, local governments, and to landscapers. As an example, Roley Noffke of Hydromulch, South Africa, has been a major leader in encouraging small farmers to produce quality plant material as a farm commodity for sale to construction companies. See: http://www.vetiver.org/ETH_WORKSHOP_09/ETH_CD2.pdf There are many other examples that can be found on TVNI website. One very interesting fact is that even illiterate farmers, if initially trained and supported, can produce large numbers of high quality vetiver plants (slips) for use on complex engineering works, and as a result can significantly increase their incomes and welfare. Recently Tessema Awoke wrote a paper titled - Conservation Marketing: The Case of Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) in Illu Aba Bora Zone. of Ethiopia. He has coined the phrase "Conservation Marketing" which is appropriate for what is being done. Farmers are using excess vetiver plant material from their on farm soil conservation vetiver hedgerows as a cashable commodity for sale to other farmers and non-farm users (construction companies, landscapers, etc). Read more ....
Soil Erosion - A Hidden Catastrophe Not Far Away!-- 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". Read more ....
THINK CLIMATE CHANGE - USE VETIVER!!! PROCEEDINGS - Power points, papers and posters of 1ST PHILIPPINE CONFERENCE ON VETIVER, MARCH 5-7, 2014 - Proceedings ---
Vetiver Phytoremediation Technology (VPT) -- Paul Truong is TVNI's Technical Director and a world authority on the use of vetiver grass technology for the treatment of contaminated land and water. We refer to this type of application as Vetiver Phytoremediation Technology (VPT) . He has recently prepared a useful photo essay (left) on the use of VPT for waste water treatment, comparing the before and after impact of vetiver. There are also two water treatment programs one, in Singapore (using C.nemoralis instead of the more efficient C. zizanioides) that Paul helped design, and the other in Oman (using Ph ragmites sp) designed by BAUER Umwelt GmbH of Germany). Both have interesting design features, and both could use C. zizanioidies. This slide show can be downloaded as a pdf file. COMPUTER MODEL FOR TREATMENT OF SMALL VOLUME WASTEWATER If you have problems with dealing with waste water and sewage effluent on your property you may be able to use the Vetiver System to eradicate it. This model by Paul and Nicholas Truong shows you how, and the number of plants that you will need. Treating Industrial waste water with Vetiver -- Here is a nice example from Paul Truong of how vetiver can be used for industrial or agricultural waste water treatment using floating pontoons (best design yet) and by planting on the banks of the lagoons. There is great potential to apply the Vetiver System for waste water treatment not only on industrial scale but also for smaller treatment needs for single households, small hospitals, hotels, schools, refugee camps, etc. using the alternative "wetland" vetiver application.
Extreme Slope Stabilization using the Vetiver System by Paul Truong - Technical Director TVNI. Published by Pacific Rim Vetiver Network. We Take this opportunity to thank and recognize the efforts of the Pacific Rim Vetiver Network and and the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board of Thailand for their wonderful and generous support in promoting the Vetiver System world wide both in research and technical publications.
Biotechnology Environmental Solutions (Soluciones ambientales en biotecnología)using the Vetiver System. Yorleny Cruz who is TVNI's Associate Director for Costa Rica and Central America as well as a senior partner of Vetiver Panama SA, has shared with us an excellent presentation (MB19) in Spanish (with some English). The presentation focuses on wet tropical bioengineering stabilization of roads, river and canal banks, gullies, drainage. and landslide works using the Vetiver System. It comprises some 127 slides (nearly all from this website archive) and should be very useful for introducing VS technology to new clients particularly those needing solutions to deal with the extreme rainfall events that are occurring more frequently because of climate change. She hopes that others will use the presentation in the promotion of VS. Yorleny and TVNI take the opportunity to recognize all those vetiver users who have contributed to this photographic presentation. NOTE: Sharing information on this website helps accelerate the use and awareness of this unique plant and technology. Sharing (contrary to what some people think) is good for us all, good for Planet Earth and good for our businesses however large or small.
Establishing Native Vegetation for Soil Stabilization in Semi-Arid Areas in South Africa, Ethiopia and Madagascar. An excellent presentation by Roley Noffke of Hydromulch - Africa's leading land restoration company."As a pioneer species, vetiver grass, enables native species to establish on degraded sites where under normal circumstances it is impossible for the latter to develop. Vetiver grass provides habitat, shelter and forage to fauna".
Pollution of Planet Earth’s Food Supply Source: - Did you see the recent article in The Washington Post “Chinese official: Soil pollution hurts farming” claiming that at least 8 million acres of Chinese farm land will be closed to production due to contamination by heavy metals and other contaminants, including the over use of agricultural chemicals? This problem is not just confined to China. In India ground water is not only being depleted at an alarming rate, but it is also being polluted by overuse of agricultural chemicals and by toxic effluent from industry. “A recent Punjab state water department survey found that 1,166 of its nearly 7,000 projects were contaminated with heavy metals including arsenic, uranium and arsenic beyond permissible limits”. Additionally the overuse of nitrogenous fertilizer has in places seriously contaminated groundwater – the consequence - contaminated food and drinking water, and an increased incidences of cancer and other ailments. This problem also occurs in the USA. The Salinas Valley in California has serious nitrate contaminated groundwater due to years of fertilizer use for intensive agricultural cropping. Learn how the Vetiver Phytoremediation Technology can help remediate these problems ....
Vetiver Greetings for 2014 – What happened in 2013? The worldwide Vetiver family had another good year in 2013. It was exciting to see expanding use of Vetiver System applications in most parts of the world, often from people and places that we rarely hear from. The year’s highlight was The Second International Latin American Conference on the Vetiver System that was held in October in Medellin, Colombia, and very ably organized by Daniel Londono of the Colombian Vetiver Network. There was excellent attendance and some very interesting presentations from most of the region’s countries covering various applications. It was interesting to see how individuals, communities, private companies, schools, and Universities were all making their contribution to furthering this great technology. I was personally moved by the work of Alois Kennerknecht of Lima, Peru, who, using his own money, had virtually single handed introduced VS for beautification, soil conservation, and other purposes to some very poor inner city urban communities. In Madagascar, our current “Vetiver Champion”, Yoann Coppin, continues his excellent work with a number of cross sector applications that show what can be done when you put your mind to it! We thank the companies and individuals who contributed to the conference in kind and funds. Read more and download complete article .....
Vetiver Library .... To help users find information more easily about the Vetiver System we have established a "library" on the Zotero site. You can search against subject, tag, alphabetically, language amongst others. We have not completed the upload of all the documents and their links, but this should be completed soon. We will continue to keep operating the TVNI website search engine for those who wish to use it.
Vetiver videos in Spanish.Jim Smyle (currently TVNI President) when on assignment in Central America for the World Bank at the time of Hurricane MITCH (1998) led a workshop on the Vetiver System to review how VS might be used (photos) in the aftermath of similar and future disasters. It is all very relevant 15 years on!! At that time he prepared five very short videos in Spanish that have now just been uploaded to You Tube. They could be useful to many of you: 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)
PROCEEDINGS OF SECOND LATIN AMERICA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE VETIVER SYSTEM (LAICVS2) Held in Medellin, Colombia. The papers and power points presentations are now available at this link. There are some very interesting presentations including a new model for determining vetiver requirements for small scale wastewater and sewage treatment and how to construct a vetiver latrine. There are other excellent papers relating to bioengineering, environmental protection and socioeconomic aspects of the Vetiver System. You can also find a useful paper and presentation on the history and achievements of the Vetiver Network International. Papers and Power Points are presented in English, Spanish and Portuguese (not all).
GEOTROPISM OF VETIVER GRASS. A photo essay of vetiver grass applied to various slope stabilization applications by Paul Truong, TVNI Technical Director. THIS IS THE BEST COLLECTION OF VS SLOPE STABILIZATION EVER PUBLISHED AND EXPLAINS WHY VETIVER IS SO EFFECTIVE. ENGINEERS PLEASE TAKE A LOOK!! A picture, and there are many, is worth a thousand words! These pictures are real pearls!
Vetiver System Overview Learn More The Vetiver Network International (TVNI) promotes the Vetiver System (VS), a concept integrating simple scientific principals of hydrology, soil mechanics, and similar natural processes to manage soil and water on a landscape scale. The concept excels best when implemented using clones of a remarkable domesticated plant – vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides), a non fertile, noninvasive Indian clump grass cultivated for centuries for essential oil. Vetiver is central to a wide range of applications, generally installed as narrow linear barriers (hedgerows): its roots hold soil in place and dense ground-level stems restrain sediment flows. Unlike “hard” engineering approaches that weaken over time, VS grows stronger. It is a renewal of a traditional approach that has been validated scientifically, and expanded and promoted by TVNI. The VS provides significant economic, environmental and social benefits. VS is now used in most tropical and semi-tropical countries, north to Italy and south to Chile. Based on research and demonstrations through TVNI “partners,” including research institutions, development agencies, NGO's and the private sector, VS has expanded from a technology primarily for farm soil and water conservation to include major applications for: slope stabilization of public infrastructure (e.g., roads, railways, canals, rivers, construction); prevention and treatment of contaminated domestic and industrial waste water; reclamation of toxic mine-tailings and polluted industrial land; disaster mitigation (e.g., stabilizing potential landslide sites, dikes and levees, dampening wind scour, and area protection against flooding); soil improvement, wetland and marginal land restoration, and crop pest control; renewable natural fibre for handicraft production, mulch, and thatch, etc. bio-fuels All these applications impact positively on sustaining the environment and natural resources, while improving human welfare. For more details about the plant, its propagation and how to plant it go to this link
	Soil Erosion Control: The Vetiver System is the premier soil erosion method outside of temperate zones.; Narrow hedgerows of Vetiver grass will spread out rainfall runoff across the slope, act as a filter to trap erosion sediment, create natural terraces and reduces the velocity of rainfall runoff. It has application for on farm soil and water conservation, rehabilitation of eroded lands, and prevention of erosion on sloping lands. Learn More
	Agriculture Improvement: The Vetiver System has many agricultural uses for: soil and water conservation, soil moisture improvement, groundwater recharge, recycling soil nutrients, pest control, mulch, forage, clean up of agricultural contaminated waste water, protection of farm infrastructure (canals, drains, roads, and building sites. Learn More
	Slope Protection: The combination of deep roots with tensile strength of 75 MPa that improve the shear strength of soil by as much as 40% makes Vetiver grass an ideal plant for stabilizing steep and unstable slopes. The Vetiver System when applied to such slopes significantly reduces the probability of land slippage and reduces the need for “hard solutions”. Applications include highway, railway, riverbanks, public utility right of ways, canal, dikes, and levee slopes. Learn More
	Disaster Mitigation: The Vetiver System can be used to reduce potential disasters caused by extreme rainfall events. Stabilization of levees and sea dikes reduces the chance of breaching and subsequent devastating flooding. Steep slope protection by Vetiver grass reduces potential land slippage caused by high rainfall events. Learn More
	Prevention and Treatment of Contaminated Water and Land: The Vetiver grass will tolerate high levels of nitrates, phosphates, heavy metals, and agricultural chemicals. The Vetiver System can be used for treating wastewater, rehabilitating mine tailings, stabilizing landfills and general rubbish dumps. The Vetiver System takes up the toxic materials and confines the contaminates to the effected area. Learn More
	Community Quality of Life and Poverty Reduction: In most developing countries many of the Vetiver System applications can be applied at minimum cost to poor rural communities to enhance quality of life through protection of water supplies, improving soils and increasing farm benefits, cleaning up waste water and reduction of diseases, protection of rural infrastructure, and providing by-products for handicrafts, forage, mulch, thatch, medicines, and Vetiver plant material for sale to other users. Learn More
	Landscaping: The Vetiver System can be applied for urban landscaping including beautification, slope stabilization, traffic dividers, demarcation of walkways, prevention of urban erosion etc. Learn More
	Handicrafts: Vetiver grass provides a source of excellent material for handicrafts, particularly if the leaves are properly processed first. Sometimes, as in the case of Venezuela, a handicraft program for women and girls led to the Vetiver System being used for other applications. Thus adding to the quality of communities and community effort. Learn More
	Helpful Reading Vetiver Systems Application - A Technical Reference Manual: Second Edition. June 2008. by Paul Truong, Tran Tan Van, and Elise Pinners is now published in FULL color (170 images) and available at Amazon.com for US $20 plus shipping. This 91 page book packs all the essentials for putting in place the many applications of the Vetiver System. It has five parts: The Vetiver Plant; Methods of Propagation; Disaster Mitigation and Infrastructure Protection; Prevention and Treatment of Contaminated Water and Land; On-farm erosion control and other uses. The book is based on world wide experience and especially the last eight years in Vietnam. The information can be used and applied virtually in any part of the world that has hot summers and mild (non ground freezing winters). People responsible for working in tropical and semi-tropical developing countries should own a copy of this book. The book has been published in English, French, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Swahili, Spanish, Mandarin, and Vietnamese editions can be downloaded (note you need a Google account to do this) at no cost from the internet. Hard copies of the English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swahili editions can be bulk ordered (minimum 10 copies) from TVNI on request at significantly reduced prices. Single copies of English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swahili can be purchased directly from Amazon.com. See full list of all publications.
From Sally Holker - Women Weave of India - "I planted vetiver three monsoons ago on my eleven acres of land (Central India, on the banks of the Narbada River, near Maheshwar). The original idea was to arrest the erosion of my very unstable terrain, which slopes at a twenty degree angle from the north (top) down to the river (south) and was slowly washing the whole story away. That has completely reversed itself now. The vetiver has been a miracle and has multiplied many times over. Not only is the land stable, but also we have been able to use the leaf of these plants very effectively in a project close to my heart. For thirty years I have been committed to increasing rural employment for women in our area through handloom weaving. Most of the area weaves cotton and silk. We are now weaving vetiver leaf; making and selling beautiful table mats and runners." From Debela Dinka - Sustainable Land Use Forum, Ethiopia. "According to our partner NGO in Illubabor, Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resource Association (EWNRA), vetiver technology is more or less being used in 17 districts of 22 in Illubabor. It is estimated that about 17,000 households are using vetiver. It is expected that the remaining 5 districts will be involved. The major impacts of vetiver are: decreased rate of soil erosion; increased crop (maize sorghum, vegetables) yield due to soil and water conservation; reduced siltation of wetlands & streams; groundwater recharge which subsequently improved flow of springs, streams & wetlands; survival rate of tree & coffee seedlings reached more than 80%. Other uses of vetiver: mulching in coffee plantations; thatching of houses, stores & shades (vetiver grass gives long time service); mattress making (it repels home fleas & other insects); homestead hedgerows for beautification; making rope; income generation (farmers sell vetiver clumps for planting materials); and the green leaves of vetiver are cut and spread in & around homes during holidays & social gatherings such as wedding ceremonies." From Tran Tan Van - Vietnam. "Vietnam, like most countries, suffers natural disasters and environmental degradation. The threat from future rising sea levels puts Vietnam in the top five most endangered nations. Yearly 1000 people die during storms; as a result of toxic pollution of waterways, yearly average property damage is $300,000,000. The government understands the need to mitigate these effects but has resorted to using piecemeal, conventional engineering works. These are very expensive, technically complicated and are not durable. TVNI’s introduction of VS into Vietnam 7 years ago was for Vietnam “a timely glass of fresh water to the thirsty desert traveller”. It has been tested, demonstrated and adopted by the government, the research community, the private sector and individuals. The speed of its adoption over large landscapes attests that it is indeed the solution to myriad problems. Vietnam represents one of the world’s most successful cases of VS use".
*USDA/NRCS endorses Vetiveria zizanioides* (Sunshine cultivar)** In a very useful and practical plant guide USDA/NRCS supports the use of Vetiver (Sunshine cultivar) for soil and water conservation, slope stabilization and phytoremediation. It also vindicates Vetiver as a non invasive plant: "For approximately the past 15 years, no volunteer seedlings have been observed from conservation plantings of Sunshine in the Pacific Islands Area. Sunshine was evaluated for invasiveness by the Hawaii-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment and Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk. It received a low risk score (-8) for the potential to become invasive." Note: Sunshine Vetiver has the same genotype (DNA tested) as the majority of cultivars of Vetiveria zizanioides used under the Vetiver System throughout the world.
CERTIFICATES OF TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE See a complete list of those certified in Vetiver System Technology. Details on how to get certified. Example of "Class 1" submission
Vetiver System Application - Technical Reference Manual - INDONESIAN EDITION. This manual, with Indonesian text, has the original five parts of the English Edition, plus a sixth part by David Booth that focuses on applications in Indonesia. The manual has been principally funded by Roley Noffke of Hydro Mulch, South Africa, with additional funds for the translation from Paul Truong. Download free.
Vetiver System in Iran. Salman Shooshtarian of Iran has informed TVNI about ongoing work with VS in his country (see). He and Ali Tehranifar have translated the Vetiver Grass Manual by Truong et al into Persian and there work has now been published in by Iranian Agricultural Science Publications: http://www.adinebook.com/gp/product/6005410754. The Iranian Association for the Promotion of Vetiver has been established as an NGO - see their interesting presentation and the latest work on canal banks and rivers The visual demonstration and the quality of the vetiver plants and their growth clearly demonstrates the application of VS in semi arid and arid areas and is particularly applicable to Mediterranean and Middle East countries. Another VS application of great potential in these areas is for the treatment of waste water in its various forms on either small or large scale.
Vetiver Documents in Spanish (some Portuguese included) NEW