Newsletters and Posts

The Vetiver System for Stream Bank Stabilisation

The two attached documents make a complementary case for the Vetiver System (VS) as a living, low-cost means of protecting river, canal, dam and sea banks against flood and wave erosion. The first sets out the underlying method and a broad international field record; the second follows one national program through a full decade to test how that method holds up over time — the successes and the failures alike. Read together they move from principle and proof-of-concept to durable, honestly audited outcomes.… Read the rest “The Vetiver System for Stream Bank Stabilisation”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: Community and livelihoods, Erosion and soil and water conservation, Slopes and infrastructure, Water and hydrologyTagged

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

In this issue Attention wine industry: Vetiver as an option for building resilience and mitigating climate change impacts in vineyards Vetiver’s Shifting Climatic Range Hedging Your Bets: Sequestration Claims vs. the 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.… 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 and farming, Climate change, Erosion and soil and water conservationTagged

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

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]This might be the most important post I write this year, and I’m going to be direct about why: We have something potentially extraordinary in our hands—a Vetiver- Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) partnership that research suggests could deliver 70-85% nematode control across crops, 15-30% yield increases in coffee, cacao, citrus, and other high-value perennials, 20-35% fertilizer reductions, near-total Striga elimination in African cereals, and 20+ years of self-sustaining benefits—for a $3 per 500 plants investment.… Read the rest “NEWSLETTER (NL2026-05): The $3 Revolution: Proving What Vetiver + AMF Can Really Do at Scale”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: Agriculture and farming, Climate change, Community and livelihoods, Policy, upscaling and dissemination, The plant, planting and 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 and farming, Climate change, Community and livelihoods, Erosion and soil and water conservation, Guides, standards and publications, Policy, upscaling and dissemination, The plant, planting and 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 and farming, Erosion and soil and water conservation, Policy, upscaling and dissemination, The plant, planting and 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: Guides, standards and publications, Slopes and infrastructure, Water and hydrology

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 and farming, Climate change, Community and livelihoods, Erosion and soil and water conservation, Guides, standards and publications, Policy, upscaling and dissemination, The plant, planting and research, Water and hydrologyTagged ,

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 and farming, Climate change, Disaster mitigation, Pollution and wastewater, Slopes and infrastructure, Water and hydrology

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

In this issue The Hidden Benefits of Vetiver: When Farmers Discover What Science Had Already Proven Five Hidden Mechanisms Working Beneath the Surface Voices from the Field: Ethiopia’s Experience The Soil Temperature Crisis: How Vetiver Actually Cools Your Farm World Water Day: The World Is Running Out of Groundwater Vetiver as Bio-Hydrological Tool for Engineers Building a Movement: New Association in Brazil Practical Applications: From Kitchen Gardens to Infrastructure Transform Your Kitchen Garden Retrofitting Stone Terraces Stabilizing Farm Irrigation Channels Six Vetiver System Based Farm Models Success Stories from the Field Field Notes from Somo Abdul Kabir – Marsabit, Kenya Field Notes from Peter Kingori – Kiambu County, Kenya Getting Started: Critical Success Factors Connecting Farmers and Science: The Path Forward Welcome to an extraordinary month in the Vetiver world.… 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 and farming, Climate change, Erosion and soil and water conservation, Guides, standards and publications, Policy, upscaling and dissemination, The plant, planting and research, Water and hydrologyTagged , , ,

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 and farming, The plant, planting and research, Water and hydrologyTagged ,