Newsletters and Posts

 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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Labels: Agriculture and farming, Climate changeTagged , ,

The Hidden Benefits of Vetiver

When Farmers Discover What Science Had Already Proven The Vietnamese Discovery The Vietnam Vetiver Farmers Group (facebook.com/groups/vetiver4vn) has become the world’s most innovative vetiver community through careful field observation and documentation. Their farmers noticed something remarkable: crops planted close to vetiver hedges—particularly papaya, dragon fruit, and grapes—grew with exceptional vigor and health. The farmers attributed this dramatic improvement to vetiver ‘wicking up’ deep moisture and making it available to nearby plants. While their moisture theory was incorrect, their observation were absolutely right—something profound was happening.… Read the rest “The Hidden Benefits of Vetiver”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: Agriculture and farming, The plant, planting and research, Water and hydrologyTagged , , ,

RETROFIT CONSTRUCTED CONSERVATION BUNDS AND TERRACES WITH VETIVER HEDGEROWS

Retrofit thousands of kilometers of constructed bunds, terraces, fanya juus BY planting one row of vetiver along the upslope foot (toe) of bunds or on the outer edge of terraces and these structures will start showing the benefits of vetiver hedgerows. The cost is minimal the benefits are huge. Vetiver’s deep roots (3+ meters) stabilize soil structures, preventing erosion and structural failure. The dense hedgerows filter sediment, slow runoff, and enhance water infiltration. Unlike aging earthworks that deteriorate, vetiver strengthens over time, reduces maintenance costs, and creates living barriers that adapt to terrain while providing long-term erosion control, land productivity and many other benefits not obvious to the casual user.… Read the rest “RETROFIT CONSTRUCTED CONSERVATION BUNDS AND TERRACES WITH VETIVER HEDGEROWS”
Dick Grimshaw
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Labels: Agriculture and farming, Erosion and soil and water conservation

Newsletter (NL2026-03) – Mapping the Vetiver System Worldwide, Vetiver México’s ‘Vetiver for the Earth’ Competition, Paseo Ambiental Orégano (Venezuela) Celebrates 5th Anniversary, Farmer innovation/Solomon Islands, Community-first vetiver model for landslide-prone hillsides, Slope stabilization and carbon capture

In this issue Mapping the Vetiver System Worldwide: A New Country-by-Country Evidence Table Vetiver México Champions Local Projects with ‘Vetiver for the Earth’ Competition Paseo Ambiental Orégano: 5 Years of Urban Regeneration and Resilience with Vetiver Network Advice A China-backed project in western Kenya to restore degraded riverbanks & transform flood-prone farmland into thriving green corridors. Farmer innovation in the Solomon Islands A community-first vetiver model for landslide-prone hillsides in Indonesia…and some discussion of technical design Vetiver that stabilizes slopes and captures carbon: insights from Bogor, Indonesia Mapping the Vetiver System Worldwide: A New Country-by-Country Evidence Table TVNI has compiled a comprehensive country-by-country evidence table documenting the global reach of the Vetiver System.… Read the rest “Newsletter (NL2026-03) – Mapping the Vetiver System Worldwide, Vetiver México’s ‘Vetiver for the Earth’ Competition, Paseo Ambiental Orégano (Venezuela) Celebrates 5th Anniversary, Farmer innovation/Solomon Islands, Community-first vetiver model for landslide-prone hillsides, Slope stabilization and carbon capture”
Jim Smyle
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Labels: Agriculture and farming, Climate change, Community and livelihoods, Disaster mitigation, Erosion and soil and water conservation, Guides, standards and publications, Policy, upscaling and dissemination, Slopes and infrastructure, The plant, planting and research, Water and hydrologyTagged ,

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….

In this issue GLOBAL WATER BANKRUPTCY: A new UN report on the “new normal” for water From Science to Global Leadership – Patricia Tello Reátegui, Peru Earthshot Network — Potential Funding Opportunities for Vetiver Practitioners A Snapshot of Vetiver’s Growing Academic Visibility Vetiver on floating mats in temperate Japan: strong nitrogen removal, but a clear “don’t overpromise phosphorus” lesson When the slope gets steeper: what happens to vetiver roots—and erosion resistance? Southernmost vetiver and a note on cold tolerance 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. … 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
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Labels: Erosion and soil and water conservation, Guides, standards and publications, Pollution and wastewater, Slopes and infrastructure, The plant, planting and research, Water and hydrologyTagged , ,

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
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Labels: Agriculture and farming, Climate change, Water and hydrologyTagged ,

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
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Labels: Guides, standards and publications, Slopes and infrastructureTagged ,

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
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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
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Labels: Agriculture and farming, Erosion and soil and water conservation, Network news and events, Pollution and wastewater, Slopes and infrastructureTagged , ,

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
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Labels: Agriculture and farming, The plant, planting and researchTagged ,