Newsletters and Posts

The Global Vetiver Farmer (GVF) Program

One visit at harvest: help show where vetiver helps crops most What GVF is, and why now For forty years, vetiver hedges have been shown to hold soil, slow runoff and keep water in the field, and TVNI’s standards document this. What has never been measured at scale is what happens to the crop beside a hedge: how yield changes with distance from vetiver, in which climates, on which soils, and for which crops. Farmers often say the crop is better near the hedge.… Read the rest “The Global Vetiver Farmer (GVF) Program”

International Vetiver Forum

1st INTERNATIONAL VETIVER FORUM, Dominican Republic 2026 🇩🇴 🌿 YOU’RE INVITED! | The Dominican Agribusiness Board (JAD) and the Dominican Vetiver Network are honoured to invite you to this important international gathering, where national and international experts will share knowledge, experience and innovative solutions for the sustainable development of the Dominican Republic. 🌱🌎 Date: Thursday, 29 October 2026 🕣 Time: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 📍 Venue: Auditorium of the Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana (JAD), Santo Domingo 🌱 Featured topics: ✅ Soil conservation and erosion control ✅ Water management and green infrastructure ✅ Climate change and sustainability ✅ Innovation, development and public policy 📝 CONFIRM YOUR PARTICIPATION!… Read the rest “International Vetiver Forum”

Vetiver as a Keystone of Regenerative Agriculture in the Global South

Across the Global South, farmers are trying to rebuild soils, restore water cycles, and protect their crops from increasingly unpredictable weather. Yet they face the same stubborn barriers: severe erosion, degraded slopes, declining soil fertility, drought stress, and the rising cost of labor and inputs. Regenerative agriculture offers a pathway forward, but only if the land itself is stable enough to support it. This is where vetiver stands out—not as a niche conservation plant, but as a keystone species whose influence radiates across the entire farming system.… Read the rest “Vetiver as a Keystone of Regenerative Agriculture in the Global South”

NEWSLETTER (NL2026-09): Bangladesh Moves Toward National Adoption of Vetiver

In this issue Bangladesh Moves Toward National Adoption of Vetiver News From Around the Network The VGT Design Standards and Guides: Revision Completed OlaFarm, Vietnam: A Model Vetiver Service Company in the Making GVF: The Global Vetiver Farmer Program Moves Ahead New Technical Notes on Crop Enterprises Ethiopia: Two Seasons and Thirty Years Farewell to Feng Ziyuan Bangladesh Moves Toward National Adoption of Vetiver The most significant vetiver news comes from Bangladesh, where vetiver (locally “binna” grass) has moved from pilot projects to the top of government.… Read the rest “NEWSLETTER (NL2026-09): Bangladesh Moves Toward National Adoption of Vetiver”

Vetiver System — Guides and Design Standards: Module C Refreshed: Vetiver for Wastewater, Effluent. and Pollution Control

Use Them Now, and Help Us Make Them Standards. TVNI has completed a full review and revision of Module C of the Guides and Standards suite — the module that covers wastewater, effluent and pollution control. The module now runs to ten entries, and every one has been reviewed. The former Coffee Effluent and Oil Palm standards have been consolidated into a single plantation guide; the Tertiary Treatment and Flower Effluent standards have each been reissued at guide level; a new plain-language companion has been added for the people who actually operate the systems; the Landfill standard has been revised and reissued; and a Floating Islands guide has joined the module.… Read the rest “Vetiver System — Guides and Design Standards: Module C Refreshed: Vetiver for Wastewater, Effluent. and Pollution Control”

A Poor Man’s Irrigation System – The Remarkable Hydraulics of a Vetiver Hedge

How a closed hedge spreads water, sorts sediment, and hands nitrogen and phosphorus to the crop below — and why a leaky one does the reverse I have described a properly functioning vetiver hedge as a poor man’s irrigation system for a long time. It was meant as a way of explaining to a farmer what the hedge does with rainfall: it takes water that would have run off in a few destructive channels and instead gives it back to the field, spread out, where the crop can use it.… Read the rest “A Poor Man’s Irrigation System – The Remarkable Hydraulics of a Vetiver Hedge”

Two New Papers: Why Vetiver Spreads Through Channels, and How to Build a Vetiver Service Company

TVNI has issued two companion papers for discussion. “From Proof to Practice” asks why a technology this well proven has been adopted so slowly, and finds that the lag is structural rather than informational. “Establishing a Vetiver Service Company” takes the main conclusion of that diagnosis — that firms, not arguments, are what carry a technology — and sets out how to build one. This post continues a discussion started in my recent post dated September 4, 2026.… Read the rest “Two New Papers: Why Vetiver Spreads Through Channels, and How to Build a Vetiver Service Company”

How the updated VGT design standards underwrite a two-wing vetiver service company

Updated Design Standards and Specifications What the revisions mean for your work The design standards, guides and specifications listed in the design spec table are there to support your work with vetiver — whether you use them as an individual, as a company, or as an organization providing vetiver services. The early versions of some of these standards were not tight designs backed by verified information. Since June of this year I have been revising them — not all of them yet, but a good many — and the revised versions are considerably tighter.… Read the rest “How the updated VGT design standards underwrite a two-wing vetiver service company”

NEWSLETTER (NL2026-08): ICV-8; TVNI Awards Announcement; UN International Year of the Woman Farmer; Vetiver Research News; UN Assessment: Vetiver First Among Malawi’s Erosion Controls

In this issue Dates for the 8th International Conference on Vetiver (ICV-8) Announced TVNI Announces Awards for ICV-8 2026 is the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer: Vetiver and Women Farmers Vetiver Research News A UN Assessment Ranked Vetiver First Among Malawi’s Erosion Controls Dates for the 8th International Conference on Vetiver (ICV-8) Announced The following is an official announcement from the India Vetiver Foundation: The India Vetiver Foundation (IVF) is proud to announce that India will host the Eighth International Conference on Vetiver (ICV-8) in Chennai from 12 to 14 May 2027.… Read the rest “NEWSLETTER (NL2026-08): ICV-8; TVNI Awards Announcement; UN International Year of the Woman Farmer; Vetiver Research News; UN Assessment: Vetiver First Among Malawi’s Erosion Controls”