NEWSLETTERS & POSTS

Newsletter (NL2026-02) — A belated February newsletter & Global Water Bankruptcy, Patricia Tello Reátegui, Potential Funding Opportunities for VS Practitioners, VS Academic Visibility, Slope steepness & rooting, and others….

Our February Newsletter is coming out quite late for technical reasons: we have just migrated the TVNI website from its long time host, CSS Communications (of Bellingham, Washington) to a new host and so were “down” during the transfer.  As we migrate to the new hosting provider, we wish to extend our deepest gratitude to Ray Poorman for his extraordinary generosity and steadfast support of The Vetiver Network International. Ray has, for almost 30 years, generously provided free hosting and technical support for www.vetiver.org… Read the rest “Newsletter (NL2026-02) — A belated February newsletter & Global Water Bankruptcy, Patricia Tello Reátegui, Potential Funding Opportunities for VS Practitioners, VS Academic Visibility, Slope steepness & rooting, and others….”
Jim Smyle
0
Comments
Labels: design standards, erosion, Establishment, Hydrology, land restoration, management, Phytoremediation, slope stabilization, Vetiver research, wastewater, water, water qualityTagged , , , , , , , ,

WORLD WATER DAY. AND THE WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF WATER IN THE GROUND.

Not because it isn’t raining. Because we have spent seventy years building systems designed to move rainfall off the land as fast as possible — graded terraces, drainage channels, sealed surfaces — and into rivers that carry it to the sea. This is not a US problem. It is a planetary one. The United States has 45 million acres of terraced cropland engineered to drain. Brazil’s soy belt is laced with contour banks — curvas de nível — that intercept runoff and discharge it to waterways.… Read the rest “WORLD WATER DAY. AND THE WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF WATER IN THE GROUND.”
Dick Grimshaw
0
Comments
Labels: agriculture, climate change, waterTagged , , , , , ,

Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) for Engineered Slopes: A Fully Integrated Bio Hydro Mechanical Stabilization System

“Use geofabrics only when risk demands it — vetiver does the heavy lifting.” “Why pay 5 times  more for geofabrics when vetiver does the real work?” “Vetiver isn’t vegetation — it’s bio‑engineering that stops slope failure.” Across the world’s highways, rail corridors, mine sites, and urban embankments, slope failures continue to drain budgets and threaten infrastructure. What the new Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) module makes unmistakably clear is that most of these failures are hydrological, not mechanical.… Read the rest “Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) for Engineered Slopes: A Fully Integrated Bio Hydro Mechanical Stabilization System”
Dick Grimshaw
0
Comments
Labels: design standards, infrastructure, slope stabilizationTagged , , , , , , ,

Why the Vetiver System Is a Breakthrough in Biological Pest Control

Across the tropics and subtropics, farmers face a tightening squeeze: rising pest pressure, declining soil fertility, unpredictable rainfall, and the escalating cost of chemical inputs. What the new Vetiver System biological‑control module makes clear is that a single, elegant solution—vetiver hedgerows—can address all of these challenges at once. This is not a collection of techniques. It is a unified, field‑tested system that transforms vetiver from a conservation plant into ecological infrastructure for pest suppression, soil and water conservation, orchard stability, and climate resilience.… Read the rest “Why the Vetiver System Is a Breakthrough in Biological Pest Control”
Dick Grimshaw
1
Comments
Labels: agriculture, climate changeTagged , , , , , ,

Thirty Years of The China Vetiver Network: Achievements, Impact, and Lessons for the Future

Liyu Xu, China Vetiver Network Coordinator, and his team from The National Institute of Soils (Nanjing), as well as many others, notably Xia Hanping (South China Institute of Botany), Lu Zhong-Xian (Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou) and Feng Ziyuan (Guangzhou City Vetiver Grass Industry Science and Technology Co) have demonstrated a lasting commitment to Vetiver Grass Technology that has built a strong base for its further scaling, and we thank them all for it.… Read the rest “Thirty Years of The China Vetiver Network: Achievements, Impact, and Lessons for the Future”
Dick Grimshaw
1
Comments
Labels: agriculture, erosion, infrastructure, Network News, pollution, slope stabilizationTagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Hedge That Changes Everything: How Vetiver Creates a Living Shield for Farms

Across the tropics, farmers are fighting a battle on two fronts: declining soil health and rising pest pressure. For decades, the response has been predictable—more chemicals, deeper tillage, and higher costs. But a quiet revolution is spreading across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, built not on machines or pesticides, but on a simple, perennial grass planted in a line. Vetiver hedgerows are transforming farms into resilient, biologically balanced systems, and the science behind this shift is now clearer than ever.… Read the rest “The Hedge That Changes Everything: How Vetiver Creates a Living Shield for Farms”
Dick Grimshaw
1
Comments
Labels: agriculture, plantTagged , , , , , ,

Vetiver as Vetiver Forage: What the Evidence Really Shows, a Drought Resilient Feed

Across the tropics, livestock producers face a recurring challenge: how to maintain animals through long dry seasons, drought cycles, and periods when conventional fodder collapses. Vetiver grass, long celebrated for its engineering and environmental benefits, is increasingly recognized as a strategic forage reserve—not because it outperforms improved fodder species, but because it survives when everything else fails. Nutritionally, vetiver is a moderate‑quality tropical roughage. Crude protein typically ranges from 6–10%, with digestibility values comparable to hardy, low‑input grasses used in drylands.… Read the rest “Vetiver as Vetiver Forage: What the Evidence Really Shows, a Drought Resilient Feed”
Dick Grimshaw
0
Comments
Labels: agricultureTagged , , , , , ,

From Sixty Plants to System‑Wide Protection: The Vetiver Standard

For nearly 40 years, the Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) has been recognized worldwide for its unmatched performance in soil conservation, slope stabilization, hydrological protection, and watershed rehabilitation. But one of its most powerful biological functions—its ability to act as a dead‑end trap crop for stemborers in rice, maize, and sorghum systems—has remained largely hidden in plain sight. Today, with evidence accumulated from India, China, East Africa, and Southeast Asia, TVNI is releasing a consolidated global standard that finally brings this capability to the forefront of agricultural practice.… Read the rest “From Sixty Plants to System‑Wide Protection: The Vetiver Standard”
Dick Grimshaw
0
Comments
Labels: agriculture, plantTagged , , , , ,

Vetiver Grass Technology, Nematodes, and Crop Health: A New Biological Paradigm for Tropical Agriculture

For decades, root‑knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) have quietly undermined tropical agriculture, reducing yields in bananas, chilli peppers, tomatoes, cassava, sweet potato, and dozens of other crops. Their damage is often misdiagnosed as drought stress or nutrient deficiency, leaving farmers with few effective options beyond costly and increasingly restricted chemical nematicides. Yet emerging evidence reveals that a widely planted tropical grass — vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides) — possesses a unique biological capacity to suppress nematode populations through a combination of chemical, ecological, and microbial mechanisms.… Read the rest “Vetiver Grass Technology, Nematodes, and Crop Health: A New Biological Paradigm for Tropical Agriculture”
Dick Grimshaw
1
Comments
Labels: agriculture, nematodesTagged , , , , ,

Vetiver Grass – The Microbial Engine that drives the Vetiver Grass Technology – Transforming Vetiver Plant Establishment, Perennial Cropping Systems, and Soil Restoration

The Microbial Engine Behind Vetiver’s Exceptional Performance .   Across the tropics, vetiver grass has earned its reputation as one of the world’s most resilient biological tools for soil and water conservation. Its deep, fibrous roots anchor slopes, its dense hedges slow runoff, and its physiology thrives where most plants fail. Yet the true engine behind vetiver’s extraordinary performance lies beneath the surface: a powerful, stress‑tolerant microbial community that transforms degraded soils into living, functional ecosystems. This document brings together global field evidence, emerging research, and decades of practitioner experience to explain how microbes accelerate vetiver establishment, strengthen perennial systems, and restore soil health at scale.… Read the rest “Vetiver Grass – The Microbial Engine that drives the Vetiver Grass Technology – Transforming Vetiver Plant Establishment, Perennial Cropping Systems, and Soil Restoration”
Dick Grimshaw
3
Comments
Labels: agriculture, community, design standards, management, plantTagged , , , , , , , ,