The Vetiver Network International

Critical Info and Data are in these Newsletters!

Vetiver Network News Letters from 1990-2002 This compilation of newsletters created from the originals, the latter were authored by Jim Smyle, Joan Miller, and Dick Grimshaw, record the research and development of the Vetiver Grass Technology following its introduction by John Greenfield to Indian watershed programs starting around 1986. They contain invaluable and critical information and research data from work on all the major continents, except for Antarctica! The information is just as relevant today as it was 25-35 years ago, and some of it can be used to support the necessary data for future vetiver related planning, as well as providing some very useful information to vetiver users.… Read the rest “Critical Info and Data are in these Newsletters!”

Up-Scaling Vetiver Grass Technology Using the Internet (TVNI-NL-2024-02)

Up-Scaling Vetiver Grass Technology – Using the Internet One important reason, amongst others, why Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) is not used more widely is that not enough people know about the plant and its many applications. We have to do a better job at marketing, promotion, and Public Relations (PR).  We are fortunate to have a 40 year collection of information, data, photographs on our website that provides the evidence and the basis for successfully application of the technology for multiple environmental needs in any country of the world where vetiver will grow.… Read the rest “Up-Scaling Vetiver Grass Technology Using the Internet (TVNI-NL-2024-02)”

Root Geotropism – A Reason why Vetiver Grass can stabilize steep slopes

Paul Truong, Technical Director of TVNI, brings an amazing photo gallery of VS demonstrating extreme slope stabilization from Africa, Asia and and South America. The presentation “Geotropism of Vetiver” is compelling and is the work of Dr. P.K.Yoon of Malaysia (author of “Look See at Vetiver Grass in Malaysia”), and demonstrates the strong geotropism characteristics of vetiver grass.  He did this experiment to show how vetiver could be grown in open ended horizontal tubes that were inserted in to shotcrete on near vertical walls on a highway batter in Hong Kong.  … Read the rest “Root Geotropism – A Reason why Vetiver Grass can stabilize steep slopes”

Vetiver and Permaculture (TVNI-NL-2024-01)

This month’s newsletter gives some focus to vetiver, and its role as a potentially important component in permaculture practices, regenerative agriculture and the restoration of degraded lands, particularly in tropical and semiarid areas of the world. Those who know intimately the value of using Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) for its multiple applications and many benefits have to ask why more people are not using the technology to meet the challenges of climate change  as they relate to soil health, degrading lands and water, and poverty.… Read the rest “Vetiver and Permaculture (TVNI-NL-2024-01)”

Vetiver Grass Technology at Scale and at a Landscape Level. (TVNI-NL-2023-12)

Under current policies and practices, the process of restoring the health of soils and the Global Hydrological Cycle (both are critical to plant growth, and the very survival of plants and animals (including Homo sapiens!), is going to take a very long time – decades, if not generations. One way of accelerating the process might be to put in place policies that involve community action that focus on the protection and restoration of those natural resources that fall within community related watersheds and sub-watersheds.… Read the rest “Vetiver Grass Technology at Scale and at a Landscape Level. (TVNI-NL-2023-12)”

National Coordinators for Mexico and Ecuador

As recently announced by Rafael Luque, Coordinator of the Latin American Vetiver Network, Antonio Carrillo Bolea, from Mexico, and Piet Sabbe, from Ecuador, have stepped forward and volunteered to be the National Vetiver Coordinators for their respective countries. Those of you who have followed the work being done by some of the truly outstanding Vetiverites globally and/or in Latin America, will certainly be familiar with Piet Sabbe. Piet is one of the pioneers of Vetiver System in Latin America, having begun back in the mid-1990s with the restoration of what came to be called the “Parque Bambú” – 15 ha of degraded, denuded, and exhausted land in the western foothills of the Andes in the north of Ecuador.… Read the rest “National Coordinators for Mexico and Ecuador”

Stiff Grass Hedgerows (Barriers) and Contour Cultivation are Key to Watershed Improvements

TVNI, as a knowledge based organization, has a primary goal of promoting the Vetiver System (VS) across several economic and natural resource sectors. It is possible to do this because of the unique character of Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) that provides the basis for a wide range of applications, most of which significantly impact soil and water. The plant has deep penetrating roots that improve the soil shear strength by as much as 40+% and the ability within the rhizosphere to capture and cycle soil nutrients critical to plant growth.… Read the rest “Stiff Grass Hedgerows (Barriers) and Contour Cultivation are Key to Watershed Improvements”

Vetiver Grass Regenerative Farming Training in Lela Village, Siaya County, 2023

RAPPORTEUR –Notes taken by Pauline Saris, program coordinator ACTIVITY OVERVIEW Sustainable Village Resources (SVR) is a registered CBO in Kenya. We work with marginalized stay at home communities whose main livelihood depends on the small pieces of land they own. Some do handicraft while others venture into small scale poultry. Bottom line is their main source of income is the small pieces of land. We sought to get them from living on hand to mouth and get them to a sustainable living where they can get nutritious food and get economically empowered  while ensuring food security from their  land.… Read the rest “Vetiver Grass Regenerative Farming Training in Lela Village, Siaya County, 2023”

Regenerative Agriculture with Vetiver (RAV)

My name is Caleb Omolo from Kenya. I am an environmentalist and farmer, and have been using Vetiver grass since 2009. l have learned that the heat waves, droughts, floods, wild fires and dust storms are man-made and it is possible to turn the these extreme weather patterns around if we study the way nature works by embracing regenerative farming systems. I work with Vetiver grass as pioneer grass to help me create sustainable nature related farms.… Read the rest “Regenerative Agriculture with Vetiver (RAV)”

Vetiver Hedge Spacing, Commercial Applications and News from Latin America (TVNI-NL-2023-11)

Vetiver Hedge Spacing. Effects of initial spacing on Vetiver hedgerow closure at 24 months, demonstrating that establishing a functional Vetiver hedgerow requires that the Vetiver be planted close together. Photo courtesy of Dr. P.K.Yoon (1993) In writing the first article for this newsletter I was reminded again about Dr. P.K. Yoon’s work, carried out more than 30 years ago, at the Rubber Research Institute in Malaysia, where he was then the Director.  His two-volume set of “A Look See at Vetiver Grass in Malaysia” remains one of the most comprehensive and indispensable references for Vetiver practitioners today.… Read the rest “Vetiver Hedge Spacing, Commercial Applications and News from Latin America (TVNI-NL-2023-11)”