The Secrets of Vetiver.
As research is carried out on various attributes and applications of vetiver we are coming to learn how the plant functions and what it can do. A recent Chinese study “Reshaping the microenvironment and bacterial community of TNT- and RDX-contaminated soil by combined remediation with vetiver grass (Vetiveria ziznioides) and effective microorganism (EM) flora“
The degradation rates of TNT and RDX after 60 days of combined remediation were 95.66% and 84.37%, respectively. Soil microbial activity and enzyme activities related to the nitrogen cycle were upregulated. The content of soil elements in the remediation group changed significantly. Vetiver remediation increased the diversity and significantly changed the structure of the microbial community. Notably, bacteria, such as Sphingomonadaceae and Actinobacteriota, which can degrade explosives, occupied the soil niche, and the Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota, which are involved in sugar metabolism, showed particularly increased abundance. The metabolism of soil carbohydrates, fatty acids, and amino acids was upregulated in the vetiver, EM flora, and combined vetiver+EM flora remediation groups, and the most significantly upregulated pathway was galactose metabolism. The combined vetiver and EM flora treatment of soil contaminant ecology of the soil micro-environment.
The increased activity of, and changes to microbial and enzyme activity (upregulation) is attributed to vetiver. One would assume that similar microbial interactions occur under other applications and site conditions enhancing vetiver’s role in decontamination of soil and water…. Fascinating, we still have a lot to learn! Biostarts Ventures of India has worked on explosive clean – See this photo essay. It would be interesting to know the impact of this work.
Declining Soil Health and Groundwater
I have raised awareness about the Global Hydrological Cycle (GHC) in previous posts — recently the Guardian Newspaper’s report on “Climate crisis ‘wreaking havoc’ on Earth’s water cycle”, draws attention to the impact of climate change to the GHC and especially the extreme weather events that are driving the damage, and in our case specific to soil health and water. This state of affairs can be illustrated for two important regions as follows:
Soil health in India is declining at an alarming rate. According to the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), the annual soil loss rate is about 15.35 tons per hectare, resulting in a loss of 5.37 to 8.4 million tons of nutrients each year. Water erosion is the chief contributor, affecting 83 million hectares (68.4% of the degraded land).
This decline in soil health is primarily due to intensive cultivation, over-mining of nutrients, soil erosion, and inadequate replenishment through organic and inorganic sources. The consequences include reduced crop productivity, loss of organic carbon, nutrient imbalance, soil compaction, and contamination by heavy metals and pesticides.
Soil health in Eastern Africa is also facing significant challenges. The region experiences high rates of soil erosion, with some areas losing up to 30 tons of soil per hectare per year. Additionally, nutrient depletion is a major issue, with soil organic carbon levels declining annually by 2.8 to 13 tons per hectare.
The degradation of soil health is driven by unsustainable land use practices, deforestation, and climate change, and has serious implications for food security and agricultural productivity in the regions.
Both regions experience significant contaminants in soil and water.
According to the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) of India report from 2024, nearly 20% of groundwater samples exceeded safe limits for nitrates, with 56% of districts affected. Other major contaminants include fluoride (9.04%), iron (13%), uranium (7%), and arsenic (4%).
States like Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh are particularly affected. The contamination is driven by both natural processes and human activities, such as agricultural runoff and overuse of fertilizers, all resulting in serious health risks.
Farmers in Kenya have reported that their soil is becoming increasingly acidic due to the overuse of chemical fertilizers. This has led to a decline in soil fertility and agricultural productivity. About 63% of arable land in Kenya is now acidic, which has negatively impacted the production of maize and other crops.
The use of Vetiver Stiff Grass Hedgerows (VSGH) as described in the December 2023 post provides for a relatively simple and low cost means of addressing some of the above problems when planned and applied in a systematic manner to the agriculture sector.
Climate change is causing hotter soils that can have serious impacts on soil micro flora and fauna. Here are some key points:
- Microbial Activity: Increased soil temperatures can accelerate microbial metabolism, leading to higher rates of organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. However, if temperatures become too high, it can stress microbial communities and reduce their diversity and activity.
- Soil Fauna: Soil fauna, such as nematodes, mites, and earthworms, are also affected by temperature changes. Warmer soils can increase their metabolic rates and reproduction, but extreme heat can be detrimental, causing mortality or migration to cooler areas.
- Interactions: The interactions between soil microorganisms and fauna can be altered by temperature changes. For example, warmer conditions might enhance the activity of decomposers, affecting the availability of nutrients for plants and other soil organisms.
- Moisture Content: Soil temperature and moisture are closely linked. Hotter soils often lead to increased evaporation, reducing soil moisture and the stressing of moisture dependent microorganisms and fauna.
- Ecosystem Functions: Changes in soil micro flora and fauna can impact broader ecosystem functions, such as soil fertility, plant growth, and carbon sequestration.
Whilst moderate increases in soil temperature can stimulate biological activity, extreme heat can disrupt these delicate ecosystems. It’s a complex balance.
VSGH produce high volumes of biomass that can be used to mulch crops keeping soil temperatures and soil moisture in acceptable ranges and replenishing organic matter and carbon.
Embedding various Vetiver application designs into cropping systems is a relatively new farmer generated practice and has not been researched much, if at all. But we do know the following (1) vetiver generally does not compete with adjacent plants (2) there is a very strong arbuscular mycorrhiza activity associated with vetiver roots that appears to benefit vetiver and other nearby plants and microfauna, and (3) vetiver cut for mulch results in benefits described in preceding paragraphs.
The interesting thing about vetiver is that if you have an understanding how vetiver functions you can create very flexible designs in its application depending on objectives, crop type, local ecology, size of farm/field and management practices and needs, especially for small farmers. A good design for farms/fields of less than 5-10 ha would be: (1) plant a vetiver hedge all around the boundary (for demarcation and barrier against high velocity rainfall flows and toxic chemicals from neighboring land ), (2) plant standard practice VSGH on the contour at about a 2m Vertical Interval to protect the land against erosion and reduce and spread rainfall runoff (3) within this basic vetiver could be used in various ways to support different cropping practices such as perennial fruit and other trees, vegetables, annual cereals etc.The layout in this image is near perfect for perennials and other crops where vetiver biomass is used as “chop and drop” mulch. The volume of vetiver biomass required for mulching generally dictates the hedgerow spacing. (4) standalone planting of vetiver at strategic locations for pest control, habitat for birds and insects (stem borer).
There are other possibilities too. Such as planting vetiver between the framework hedgerows as a forage field crop that can be grazed (rotationally?) directly or cut and carried. After say 5 years (perhaps) remove the vetiver and rotate into another crop. Imagine the root biomass (SOM) and soil micro-organisms population that will benefit subsequent crops.
Unlike using hard structures for soil and water management that once constructed are difficult and costly to modify or change, the Vetiver System allows you to modify designed layouts at any tme and with ease.
A study (a PhD thesis) assesses soil and water conservation methods applied to the cultivated steep lands of southern Honduras
“Erosion associated with burning and cultivated steep land fields is a common problem throughout Central America. Quantifying the magnitude of effectiveness of soil and water conservation practices, such as vetiver grass hedgerows and mulching, and the impact associated with the traditional practice of burning fields prior to planting were evaluated using a paired runoff catchment study design. Runoff, soil, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus loss observations from three steep land field catchments were measured for storm event(s) over a three-year period (1993-1995) using 0.2 ha field catchments with 60% slopes were monitored in the community of Los Espabeles near Choluteca, Honduras. During the calibration period (1993), all three catchments were managed the same with mulch only. During the treatment period (1994-1995), one catchment combined mulch management with contour vetiver grass hedgerows, one catchment was burned prior to planting, and one catchment served as the control with mulch only. Combining vetiver grass hedgerows with mulching significantly (p<O.10) reduced runoff as compared with mulch only. The traditional practice of burning fields prior to planting significantly (p<O.10) increased runoff as compared with mulch only. The vetiver grass hedgerows reduced soil loss more than mulching alone. Not only did vetiver grass form a barrier to runoff and soil loss, it helped protect the integrity of the steep land field against major sloughing events which occurred on the other two fields without vetiver grass. The slash & bum practice significantly (p<O.10) increased soil loss as compared with mulching. …”
For those in research note that the plot size was 0.2 ha. Larger plots like this will take better account of high velocity and concentrated rainwater runoff than do the standard 20×3 meter plots normally used to research the impact of runoff.
A need for Vetiver Commercial Services Companies.
Past experience has shown that vetiver expansion has come through various ways, one being dedicated private sector companies. Because vetiver has application over a wide range of sectors and uses, it provides a basis for establishing a dedicated vetiver servicing company. These types of companies are expanding in number and provide opportunity for young people with some experience to develop a “Nature-based Solution” business. The successful ones appear to be those that have their own propagation facilities (or at least access to a good supply of vetiver slips), have capability of managing on-site planting activities and follow up maintenance, and who can work with both large and small clients and the local community. One such company was started 17 years ago in Madagascar by Yoann Choppin (who incidentally is a winner of the coveted “Vetiver Champion” Award) ….
His company, La Plantation Bemasoandro, (website Facebook) has stabilized pipeline, railroad, and highway and rural road slopes; has introduced the technology for on farm soil erosion control, demonstrated how restore and stabilized the infamous ‘lavaka” land slips, as well as overgrazed and eroded hill sides. It has been used for the phytoremediation of urban drainage water and for landscaping. In addition his company has introduced bamboo and other plants for environmental purposes.
Vetiver hedgerows have become sources of quality vetiver forage. Indirectly it has relieved the pressure from overgrazing and burning on the hills. The local socio-economic impact is not negligible and many jobs have been created over the past 17 years through the use of this technology.
From the Field
Caleb Omolo (Kenya) — Regenerative Agriculture — Training
I am seeing huge progress in interest by small scale farming communities , NGOs, large estate farmers, who are slowly beginning to appreciate the value of Vetiver grass for their farms. Early this year l received visitors from Sotik tea estate company who were facing problem with soil erosion in their tea farms – they purchased a a lot of vetiver grass from me. I also received the editor from Smart Farm Africa magazine who will write about regenerative farming using Vetiver in their magazine. This interest in Vetiver Regenerative in Kenya is because climate change is forcing farmers to look for alternative systems of farming that can withstand floodings and droughts which are now here to stay. In Kenya we experience two rainy seasons, short rains and long rains. In the past only the long rains were heavy causing major flooding and damage, but now both seasons are destructive ……. l managed to have four on site workshops this year and l want to continue doing the same next year. Nancy and Peter are working very closely with me, Vetiver Regenerative farming is rapidly expanding in Homa Bay county where Trees for the Future has over 500 hundred small scale farmers and Nancy is expanding in Kiambu, Muranga and Ukambani (near Nairobi).
Somo Abdul Kabir (Kenya) “Road blocks to scale up”
I was talking to Billow from Mandera county in Northern Kenya (Somalia border) concerning the uptake of vetiver from the government and the non-governmental agencies. His response was that they are not ready yet as it might deny them future funding from donors if they solve (with vetiver) all problems now.!!!! ……. Similar scenario here at Marsabit, receiving little response to expansion and sharing information across the board. For now, I will stick to social media and one on one sessions with interested farmers. Over reliance on donor cash has a downside …. Better to deal with individuals at each level however long it will take. Have realized even here not even the local NGO’s want to come and help spread the impacts of vetiver. So, I am taking a step by step approach working with people who established vetiver from plant material that I issued during 2024. ….. Now doing one on one sessions with those who seek my advice. Of the 100 that we issued slips to there are 5-10 individuals keen to learn more. By the way one who burned vetiver leaves in his house has never seen anymore mosquitoes!”
From Huynh Quang Tri of Vietnam – some extracts (Google translated) from her Facebook postings
Some thoughts on increasing the planting survival rate of Vetiver.
Vetiver, like most other grass, is easy to grow. Unfortunately, many people think that just by planting it, it will live, even under hot and dry when using bare rooted plants that have been transported from the seller for several days. When I first started planting, plant fatality rate was 30-40%. I hope everyone does better than that! There may be many other, even better ways of planting, but I would like to share my methods.
Soaking the roots in water is the fastest and most convenient way. After 3 days Vetiver will start to grow new roots. In my opinion, the best time to plant is after 5-7 days of soaking. The water should be changed to avoid odors; soaking in unchanged water for too long may cause root rot, affecting the quality of the planting slip.
Storing vetiver in moist sand is also an easy way. Just choose a cool place or use a shade net, water regularly, Vetiver will also take root, sprout. According to my observations, this method can keep the planting slips in a good and stable condition for up to 20 days, in some cases 30 days.
In very hot and dry weather, pot (container) grown vetiver is the best. The growing medium: coconut fiber, rice husks, sand, mixed soil or simply loose soil. Soak the bare rooted slips in water to grow new roots and then place them in the pot. Even in drought, the survival rate is very high. With only 1 watering when planting in my garden, the survival rate this way is 100%. After that, the grass grows fast or slow depending on the weather.
The ideal number of tillers per vetiver planting slip are 3-4, (less -2-3 when in wet season and the weather is cool. Do not use single tillers because the planting conditions are rarely ideal. Planting straight or at an angle depends on the grower, but it is advisable to plant deeper in the dry season so that the grass roots are kept as moist as much as possible.
Should Vetiver be deified?
The usefulness of Vetiver as a plant is of course not up for debate. However, “deification” has caused a lot of controversy when many articles (posts) continuously stereotype and exaggerate the value of Vetiver by degrading other plants and other methods. The following are my personal opinions, someone who has grown and loves Vetiver.
— When used as animal feed, Vetiver is not the best choice. Vetiver still has weaknesses compared to other types of grass used for animal feed. Vetiver is not delicious, its softness is far inferior to many other types of grass, it’s leaves are hard due to its high silicon content, sharp and serrated. My young heifer considered Vetiver as the last choice. In a small experiment I planted Vetiver and lemon grass under the same conditions (without fertilizer and only rainwater), the lemongrass was larger and yielded more leaves. However, Vetiver is much more drought-resistant than elephant grass or lemongrass, so it is very suitable for planting in many places; and is a good forage for livestock that are not picky eaters like my cows.
— Regarding biomass collection for soil improvement, Vetiver is also a famous guy, but not necessarily a king. My heart likes to grow legumes to improve the soil, but actually I choose Vetiver as I am lazy, and vetver needs only minimum work. There all types of plants, including cogon grass (Imperata cylindric) — (the grass that everyone hates), that create biomas; when they die, they will rot and create humus for the soil. Woody plants, vines, native grasses, etc., are all the same, not just Vetiver. But Vetiver is still number 1 ! Vetiver is not invasive and can be easily removed by digging out or cutting below the crown. Another top benefit is that when Vetiver is removed, it still has root biomass that penetrates deeper than most other grasses.
–There are many other types of plants, besides vetiver that are as resistant to landslides. We often see the Vetiver root system penetrating deep into the soil. That is undeniable, but is the soil on the bank of your garden ditch an ideal condition, loose enough for the Vetiver root system to penetrate so deeply? In fact, many Vetiver plants planted to prevent landslides have gone with the water flow. Anyway, having Vetiver is still better than bare ground, plant enough layers horizontally and vertically, combined with native anti-erosion plants.
Symbiosis and planting Vetiver close to the base of fruit trees is a relatively good method but there are still many controversies. I do not have enough knowledge to argue or agree, but I would like to point out a few disadvantages. When planting Vetiver close to the base of the perennial trees when it is still a seedling, Vetiver easily overwhelms it…. , Vetiver grows very quickly in the beginning, competes for light, so it is necessary to trim the grass often. So, I keep a distance of 0.5 m and dig up the grass when the tree is bigger, widening the distance to 1m. Any comparison is difficult when the soil is different in each place, the crops are also different, and everyone holds their own subjective views. I planted Vetiver on rather barren land and now it has several layers of decomposed grass biomass mixed into the soil. During the 2024 dry season, I was grateful that there were layers of dry and fresh grass covering the soil that are gradually decomposing, waiting for the next layer of grass to be cut down as mulch. I hope everyone will contribute ideas and raise more opinions about Vetiver symbiosis with plants! Please share, listen, contribute ideas, and criticize, — but please do not attack!
Huynh changing her views a bit as she uses vetiver more!
With the criteria: “Little money, big heart”, Tri would like to give Vetiver grass plants (slips) from my farm to all the people in Hoai Nhon – Binh Dinh to limit landslides on the river bank to limit damage caused by storms and floods, and improve the local land.
I don’t have much so I only dare to give 1000 slips or less per person and help with digging and technical support. I don’t have the ability to give it to people who can’t come to the garden, so people who live far away, please don’t inbox me privately to get it for free!
Cutting Vetiver back
When Vetiver flowers, it has completed its growth and, the farmer’s job is to cut it back to make the most of its huge biomass.
In the dry season, the biomass (leaves) can provide shade, minimizing watering costs for the garden. ….. . So, in any season of the year, we can cut Vetiver grass and I am confident that this mulch also reduces and kills weeds.
Everyone can rest assured that no matter how the grass is cut, it will still be fine, the new grass will still grow lush, young and green, and livestock and poultry will still eat it
Vetiver and pumpkin:
When I first start growing something, I usually grow Vetiver and pumpkin. Pumpkin needs water and a little chicken or cow manure at first. After 2 months, the pumpkin vine is cut to make biomass,vetiver shades the next batch of pumpkins as well as mulch for the main crop. Vetiver is only watered at first, after 2 months it is cut back along with the pumpkin, after 4 months there is an extremely stable amount of biomass, my garden is covered, the main crop is also grown and everything is settled.
Phytoremediation Of Contaminated Fish And Swine Pond Water And Design And Construction Of Vetiver Pontoons
The Global Hydrological Cycle (GHC) impacts all aspects of water use, including water used in fishponds and other contaminated water bodies. The next few paragraphs focus on how vetiver can be used as one solution for improving water body quality
We don’t really know the extent that vetiver grass is used for mitigating contaminated fishpond water. Feng Ziyuyan of China has used it on relatively large scale for treating wastewater lagoons from fish ponds .. see this video. He has also designed some interesting pontoons (see image). Research from a number of countries including the Australia, India, Philippines, Malaysia, and Mexico indicate the potential for the removal of ammonia, nitrogen, phosphates and other unwanted chemical resulting in fishpond water quality improvement. Data also indicates that the growth rate of fish improves and are ready to harvest earlier, thus reducing production costs. Here are some excerpts and links to the studies:
“Ammonia concentration of catfish cultured wastewater was reduced by up to 90% under vetiver treatment. Length, weight range, and survival rates of catfish under vetiver treatment were higher compared with the control. Vetiver was able to remove ammonia and grow under recirculating system of catfish culture by utilizing nutrient from organic decomposition of uneaten fish food, feces, and urine”. … paper
“Three mini-ponds using a Vetiver aquaponics system, and one mini-pond without Vetiver, were stocked with tilapia juveniles and were cultured for ten weeks. The ammonia, nitrates, dissolved O2, pH etc., and tilapia weights were recorded. Results indicated that, ammonia decreased, nitrate increased, and tilapia weight increased significantly in mini-ponds with Vetiver. A von Bertalanffy simplified model was used to calculate the time required for tilapias to reach 500 g (commercial size) with Vetiver and without Vetiver — 48.6 and 54.4 weeks respectively. An extrapolation to commercial tilapia aquaculture indicates decreased production cost, due to lower amount of feed and water in tilapia hatcheries; also, a lower environmental impact from waste discharged to coastal ecosystems, — the amount of ammonia produced in mini-ponds with Vetiver was 4.56 times less than mini-pond without Vetiver at week ten”. … paper
“An intensive culture system comprising nine circular concrete tanks (6.0 cu. m capacity) were stocked with Pangasius hypophthalamus (river catfish) fingerlings (7 to 10 grams average body weight) at varying rates of 10, 75, 50 fish per cubic meter of water …… Results of monitoring conducted before the application of vetiver pontoon shows that the temperature (26 to 30 degree), pH (7 to 8) and dissolve oxygen (>2 ppm) were within the desired level while the ammonia (>1 ppm) of the water in the tanks fluctuates towards undesirable levels. The fish increment growth was 6.53 grams and survival rate of about 88% (1977 out of 2240) of pangasius fingerlings initial stocks. The vetiver pontoon system was positive, improving the water quality, enhancing the growth and survival of pangasius, reduced water requirements and discharges of polluted water in the environment within the thirty days application. The dissolved oxygen content of tank water 4.5 to 4.8 ppm was within the desirable level for the fish respiration and organic waste decomposition in the system. Likewise, the temperature (26.9 to 27.1 °C) readings and the pH range (7.7 to 8.1) were within the desirable levels. The ammonia (NH3) levels were maintained at 0.6 ppm which rendered good quality water for the growth of pangasius fingerlings and vetiver grass. Pangasius fingerlings weight increment was 7.3 grams and survival rate was high at 93% (1838 out of 1977). The value of daily water exchanges were reduced from 3 cu. m to about 1.5 to 1.74 cu. m after the application of vetiver system. ….. “ …. paper
Design And Construction Of Vetiver Pontoons:
Floating pontoons for vetiver grass are an innovative method used to treat water in aquaculture systems, including shrimp farms. Here are some key points about their use:
- Water Quality Improvement: Vetiver grass grown on floating pontoons can absorb excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from the water, which helps in reducing the risk of algal blooms and maintaining a healthy environment for aquatic life.
- Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) Regulation: Vetiver pontoons help regulate BOD levels in fishponds, preventing fish kills by ensuring sufficient oxygen levels for fish and other aquatic organisms.
- Fish Feeding: The roots of vetiver grass grown on pontoons can serve as a food source for fish, providing additional nutrition and promoting healthier fish growth.
- Propagation: Vetiver pontoons can produce many planting slips in a short period, which can be used to establish new vetiver grass hedges or systems.
Designing vetiver pontoons involves creating floating platforms that support vetiver grass growth. Here are some key considerations for vetiver pontoon design:
- Structure: The pontoons should be made of durable, buoyant materials such as PVC pipes, recycled plastic drums, and bamboo. The structure should be sturdy enough to support the weight of the vetiver grass and withstand water currents.
- Planting Slips: Vetiver slips (bare-rooted plants) should be planted at regular intervals on the pontoons. The slips should be spaced closely to ensure dense growth and effective nutrient absorption. Note: The best growth and survival is to use 3 month old plants that have been grown in containers.
- Anchoring: The pontoons need to be anchored securely to prevent them from drifting away. Anchoring can be done using ropes or chains attached to weights or stakes on the pond bed.
- Maintenance: Regular maintenance is essential to ensure the health of the vetiver grass. This includes trimming the grass to promote new growth and removing any dead or damaged plants.
- Water Flow: The design should allow for adequate water flow around the pontoons to ensure efficient nutrient absorption and prevent stagnation.
This paper Ecological floating bed (EFB) for decontamination of polluted water bodies: Design, mechanism and performance provides a useful overview of various forms of floating beds/devices, how they are used and their effectiveness at various intensity of water coverage.
A short presentation by Noah Manarang of the Philippines has some interesting photos of simple constructed vetiver pontoons, as does this photo essay by Paul Truong.
From Australia “Green Acres Vetiver Grass” Facebook posting quote “The Vetiver Grass pontoon on our main dam is proving to be an amazing asset! Not only is it purifying the water, it provides sanctuary for water birds to nest and raise their babies, including moor hens, and whistling ducks. Greg, the main man in our Vetiver Grass
enterprise built this pontoon himself. The photos show it from its beginning 7 months ago to the gorgeous environmental asset we now have. Note the Vetiver growing on the banks of the dam, stabilizing the walls and remedying what used to be problematic during times of heavy rain and flash flooding and wash outs — and now holding all that precious water”
From Tamil Nadu, India vetiver pontoon design and application.
Professor Sara Parwin Banu Kamaludeen and her team at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) are using Vetiver grass to purify water. From treating sewage water to tackling environmental issues like eutrophication, Vetiver has proved to be a ‘magical’ plant. In the video, we dive into the cutting-edge research led by Professor Sara and her students, who designed a floating Vetiver platform to clean contaminated water.Here is a short video describing their design and more.
How To Make The Most Of The Vetiver Network Website.
We are continually asked the most elementary questions about the Vetiver Grass Technology and the Vetiver System, — the answers can all be found on this well documented website.
Basic Information: As an introduction to key links on the site the new reader should go to overview and Shortcuts: https://www.vetiver.org/overview/ This page links to the most recent three posts (blogs); the primary applications of vetiver (and their sub-links); and how to propagate, plant, and maintain vetiver.
NOTE: TVNI website include internal, external, and Google Drive links.
Documents and research papers:
The Network Services https://www.vetiver.org/network-services/ menu provides links to the main document center where DOCUMENTS are listed by application categories. Some of the most interesting and useful documents can be found under Conference Proceedings https://www.vetiver.org/network-services/conference-proceedings/ that has links to full papers and related presentations. When in doubt use the various search windows using “key words”, “names”, “titles”. You can even use Chat GPT or other AI aps to find what you need!
Publications, Guides, Books.,Posters, Newsletters: There are some useful, well tested vetiver publications at: https://www.vetiver.org/network-services/training/manuals-guides/ Some of which are available in different languages, and all are available as free downloads.
The following are good starters:
Vetiver Systems Application A Technical Reference Manual https://www.vetiver.org/vetiver_files/TVN_manual_english_o.pdf
Vetiver Grass – The Hedge against Erosion https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3E8MMCy36wZOTYzZDRjYWMtNmNjNi00Y2YyLTk5MDQtNmM3YmQ2OTY2OGQ2
Vetiver Root – The Vetiver System Technology Hidden Half https://www.vetiver.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Vet-Root-Book_v3.pdf
Vetiver Grass – A Thin Green Line Against Erosion – US National Academy of Science https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2077/vetiver-grass-a-thin-green-line-against-erosion
TVNI News Letters (1990 to 2002) – multiple file https://www.vetiver.org/TVN_newsletter_indexb.htm
VNI News Letters (1990 to 2002) – single file https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ThkO68LNekXMqp9VjPz-jzy2K150_ani/view
News Opinions Blogs: The website opens to this page https://www.vetiver.org/ The search engine on the right specifically searches posts under this section. Typing “NL” will bring up all the newsletters since 2022. This link – https://vetivernetinternational.blogspot.com/ – will take you to pre 2022 blogs, many are of interest and contain feedback from the field. This also has its own search engine.
If you want to make to get the best results and avoid costly mistakes from using VGT you really do need to spend it bit of time learning about how the basic concepts, the different uses and how to apply them.
Location – Location – Location – Map Your Vetiver Applications.
This is the mantra of real estate brokers. We vetiver users need to highlight and record our vetiver application locations. It is important that we attempt to monitor where Vetiver Grass Technology is being used and what for. One way of doing this is by using iNaturalist app.
iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/) is a website and smartphone app for people to share pictures of animals and plants and to help identify species. It is used as a social network to build community, learn about nature, and provide open access data for researchers. It is very user-friendly, and you can easily search by species or location and view results as a list or within a map. The desktop website is the main hub with a lot of great functions, while the smartphone app is a simpler set-up that helps ID and locate in the field.
Although its core focus is on wild species in their natural habitats, iNaturalist offers the ability to share “captive” or “cultivated” plants and animals that were placed at a certain location by humans. This includes a range of observations, from animals at a zoo to a flower planted in a garden. This is where most of our vetiver applications fit in.
The iNaturalist provides the ability to create a “Project” to track certain species or in specific areas, as well as build community and participation, so TVNI created a project page called “Vetiver Systems”. We hope you join iNaturalist and start sharing your vetiver projects!
“HOW TO” INSTRUCTIONS
- Login to www.iNaturalist.org
- Register with iNaturalist
- GO to Vetiver System community
- In the green “about” box click on “project journal” for information about the competition
- On top menu bar, right hand side, click on “upload “
- Drag and drop vetiver photo to the upload page
- Then complete the information in the various data “fields”. Note you need to be able to identify the exact location on the map, or at least close to it smart phone can do this for you if you are at the site.)
- Then click on “Submit 1 Observation”
- Then add another observation ……!
Vetiver Forage Has Potential When Managed Correctly And Will Survive Drought – A livestock co-op in China.
To end this newsletter here are a few photos of cattle grazing vetiver, and a commentary from China about a small livestock co-op using vetiver grass as forage.



A Cooperative for cattle production based on Vetiver grass forage was established In Yunnan Province, China. Vetiver stem and leaves make excellent fodder with high nutritive value if cut and fed when young. Analysis showed the protein content in fresh Vetiver stem and leaf was higher than that in alfalfa, Symphytum officinale, clover, sweet potato vine, and rice straw and a little lower than that of milk vetch. Protein content of Vetiver hay was lower than that of alfalfa but higher than that of maize silage and common winter livestock fodders such as rice and highland barley straws.

Moreover, the methionine content of Vetiver was almost the same as other fodders, while the lysine content was much higher. Thus fresh Vetiver as fodder is beneficial for livestock growth and provides a quality feed for cattle, sheep, pigs, rabbits, and fish, especially for cattle and sheep because of good palatability. At the Jiangxi Red Soils Institute, Vetiver biomass that was cut at two week intervals was completely eaten by cattle, Vetiver cut at one-month growth was 91% consumed. When fed to fish (grass carp), feeding rates of Vetiver shoots with half-month and one-month were 59-71% and 44-56%, respectively, indicating that the tender/younger Vetiver provides a better feed.
A good example of a farmer using Vetiver as a forage crop is Mr. Shouxiang Li, in Chetian village, Xiaogucheng town, Yiliang county, Yunnan province. He started cultivating Vetiver for livestock feed in in 2012 with the help of Kunming Guangbao Biotechnology Engineering Co. Ltd. In 2014, a specialized cooperative for Vetiver fed beef cattle and black goats was established. Mr. Li, the head of the cooperative, said that 20 ton of fresh Vetiver per mu per year (equivalent to 140 tons/ha/year). Currently, 13 farmer households with 50 Mu (7 ha) of individually owned land make up the cooperative. Together they own 12 calves (4 month old – Fig 1) and 8 cattle (16 month old – Fig 2). Three 13 month old cattle were sold. V e t i v e r fed beef was favored by consumers due to its fragrant flavor and tenderness. The number of cattle is expected to increase as Vetiver production expands. The cooperative will operate as a combination of company, cooperative, and farmers. Yunnan Vetiver Sci-Tech Co. Ltd, a branch company of Kunming Guangbao Biotechnology Engineering Co. Ltd becomes a shareholder in the form of technical service, seedling supply, and Vetiver repurchase; the cooperative distributes seedlings to farmers in terms of individual need; and the farmers individually cultivate the Vetiver.
Study on Digestibility of Nutrient Content of Vetiver Grass (a fodder for goats.
Digestibility of the nutrient contents in Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides) in Dongshan goat were measured using the typical method of total-faeces-collection. The results showed that
digestibilities of gross energy, dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, crude fiber, calcium, phophorus and nitrogen free extract in Vetiver grass hay were 29.65%, 46.09%, 23.15%, 28.79%, 46.44%, 61.00%, 66.60% and 36.25% respectively. 1 kg dry matter of Vetiver grass hay could provide 1.47 Mcal digestible energy, 13.4 g digestible crude protein and 4.17 g ether extract, which indicated that Vetiver grass is a promising feed resource for goats.
Finally, a reminder that the Vetiver System works for large commercial farms!
