NEWSLETTERS & POSTS

NEWSLETTER (NL2026-06): Attention: wine industry, Vetiver’s shifting climatic range, Hedging Bets: Sequestration vs. Storage Reality

On hikes that passed through wine-producing regions in Europe, scenes like those pictured below prompted thinking about how the Vetiver System could benefit vineyard owners around the world. Wine grapes want slopes – for drainage, for sun, for the cool air that drains off a hillside at night – and slopes lose soil. In Europe, vineyards are among the most erosion-prone farmland, and it is likely little different in the other wine grape growing regions of the world, including the new high-latitude and tropical-highland regions.… Read the rest “NEWSLETTER (NL2026-06): Attention: wine industry, Vetiver’s shifting climatic range, Hedging Bets: Sequestration vs. Storage Reality”
Jim Smyle
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Labels: agriculture, climate change, climate change adaptation, climate change mitigation, erosion, nematodes, uncategorized, VineyardsTagged , , , , , , ,

NEWSLETTER (NL2026-05): The $3 Revolution: Proving What Vetiver + AMF Can Really Do at Scale

Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: agriculture, climate change mitigation, community, upscaling vetiver, Vetiver researchTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FIVE  STUDIES. 1,300 FARMERS. THE QUESTIONS NOBODY ASKED

THE VETIVER ADOPTION PARADOX Understanding Why Farmers Don’t Use What They Know Works Part of the Global Farmer Demonstration Program series Introduction This post builds on our recent article Become a Farmer-Researcher: Six Vetiver System Models to Transform Your Farm, providing essential context for the proposed Global Farmer Demonstration Program (GFDP). What we’ve discovered through analyzing five independent studies across 1,300 farmers in four countries reveals a troubling pattern: farmers experience vetiver’s benefits but don’t always connect those improvements to the plant itself.… Read the rest “FIVE  STUDIES. 1,300 FARMERS. THE QUESTIONS NOBODY ASKED”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: agriculture, climate change, design standards, economics, erosion, nematodes, plant, uncategorized, upscaling vetiver, Vetiver research

Ethiopia’s Terraces Are Failing. Here’s What the Research Says They Need.

How Vetiver Retrofits Turn 7% Yield Losses Into 200%+ Gains—While Suppressing Pests Farmers Never Expected (the photos in this article are all from Ethiopia and show vetiver planted in the mid 1990s and the early 2000s) The transformation of Ethiopia’s degraded agricultural landscapes through vetiver grass integration represents one of Africa’s most compelling success stories in soil conservation. With more than 60% of the Amhara Regional State threatened by soil erosion and land degradation, Ethiopia has invested massively in structural soil conservation measures including soil bunds, fanya juu terraces, stone bunds, and bench terraces.… Read the rest “Ethiopia’s Terraces Are Failing. Here’s What the Research Says They Need.”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: agriculture, erosion, upscaling vetiver, Vetiver researchTagged , , , , ,

Bridging the Adoption Gap: TVNI’s 2026 Engineering Standards for Slope Stabilization

For three decades, Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) has demonstrated extraordinary technical performance in stabilizing engineered slopes—yet struggled with institutional adoption. Hong Kong documented ten years of zero slope failures, then rejected vetiver. Hawaii faced $70 million in flood damage and eleven landslides, then chose conventional metal soil nails over vetiver for Kuhio Highway repairs. China scaled vetiver to over 9 million square meters across massive infrastructure programs, only to see application rates collapse when crisis pressure released.… Read the rest “Bridging the Adoption Gap: TVNI’s 2026 Engineering Standards for Slope Stabilization”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: design standards, Hydrology, infrastructure, slope stabilizationTagged , , , , , ,

Become a Farmer-Researcher: Six Vetiver System Models to Transform Your Farm

An Invitation to Farmers and Other Vetiver Users Choose Your Path, Document Your Journey, Share Your Knowledge What if the greatest agricultural research wasn’t happening in laboratories, but on your farm? What if farmers like you—working the land, observing the seasons, feeling the soil between your fingers—held the key to unlocking solutions that scientists need to document and the world needs to see? That’s exactly what’s happening with the Vetiver System. Around the world, farmers (and gardeners) are discovering that this remarkable grass does far more than prevent erosion.… Read the rest “Become a Farmer-Researcher: Six Vetiver System Models to Transform Your Farm”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: agriculture, climate change, climate change adaptation, community, design standards, erosion, forage, Hydrology, land restoration, nematodes, plant, upscaling vetiver, Vetiver research, water, watershed managementTagged , , , , , ,

Vetiver’s phytoremedial mechanism, and how it might mitigate water pollution in tropical countries with India as an example

Vetiver Phytoremediation – The  Mechanisms Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) removes agricultural and waste water (sewage) pollutants through four integrated biological mechanisms operating simultaneously. (1) The foundation is its massive vertical root system reaching 3-4 meters depth, creating enormous surface area for contaminant absorption while generating soil macropores that increase infiltration rates 200-400%. (2) Around each root, an active rhizosphere treatment zone hosts dense microbial populations that degrade organic compounds—pesticides, antibiotics, hydrocarbons—through enzymatic breakdown, while root exudates chemically transform pollutants and facilitate nutrient cycling.… Read the rest “Vetiver’s phytoremedial mechanism, and how it might mitigate water pollution in tropical countries with India as an example”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: agriculture, climate change, disaster mitigation, Phytoremediation, pollution, urban, wastewater, water, water qualityTagged , , , , , , ,

NEWSLETTER (NL2026-04) The 9-Degree Solution: What Vietnamese Farmers Discovered (And Science Had Already Proven}

Welcome to an extraordinary month in the Vetiver world. From Vietnamese farmers making remarkable discoveries to Brazilian associations taking flight, from Ethiopian insights finally being understood to engineering breakthroughs that challenge conventional thinking—this month reveals vetiver’s true power not just as erosion control, but as agricultural infrastructure with hidden benefits that science documented decades ago, yet farmers are only now beginning to see. The Hidden Benefits of Vetiver: When Farmers Discover What Science Had Already Proven The Vietnamese Discovery The Vietnam Vetiver Farmers Group has become the world’s most innovative vetiver community through careful field observation and documentation.… Read the rest “NEWSLETTER (NL2026-04) The 9-Degree Solution: What Vietnamese Farmers Discovered (And Science Had Already Proven}”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: agriculture, climate change adaptation, design standards, erosion, forage, Hydrology, nematodes, plant, Promotion & Dissemination, upscaling vetiver, waterTagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HOW VETIVER ACTUALLY IMPROVES SOIL FERTILITY

Think of degraded soil at 1.5% organic matter barely supporting crops. Now imagine bringing it to 4.3%. That’s what Anno Farms in Ethiopia achieved over 15 years with vetiver. Not guesswork—measured data from a 200-hectare commercial operation. Here’s how: THE DOUBLE BIOMASS TRICK Most people see the 1.5-2 meter tall vetiver canopy and think “that’s a lot of mulch.” They’re seeing only half the story. Above ground, standard vetiver hedges deliver 6-12 tons per hectare every three years.… Read the rest “HOW VETIVER ACTUALLY IMPROVES SOIL FERTILITY”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: agriculture, Hydrology, management, plantTagged , , , , , , ,

 The Soil Temperature Crisis: Climate Change Impact on Global Food Crops

Comprehensive Assessment of Staple Grains, High-Value Perennials, and Vegetable Crops Under Rising Soil Temperatures—and the Vetiver Solution The Crisis Beneath Our Feet While the world fixates on rising air temperatures, bare degraded soil now reaches 43-50°C during peak sun versus 19-24°C in vetiver-protected systems. Satellite thermal analysis of India’s Vanya Farm (India) proves the mechanism: the same land measured 50°C in 2000 (bare degraded baseline), then cooled to 40-42°C after transformation into food forest—a 9°C absolute decline from vegetation alone while surroundings remained at 50°C.… Read the rest “ The Soil Temperature Crisis: Climate Change Impact on Global Food Crops”
Dick Grimshaw
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