Newsletter (NL 2025-11) – Mine Restoration – Knowledge Resources – Global Voices

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From Scarred Mines to Blueberry Fields: A Story of Restoration from South China.

In Baisha Town, Yingde City, the scars of illegal rare earth mining once defined the landscape. Jagged rocks and barren soil stretched across Mendong Village’s Fourth Pond, a stark reminder of ecological damage. Today, that same ground is alive with vetiver grass and rows of blueberry bushes — a living testament to how innovation and determination can turn devastation into opportunity.

In 2023, Baisha Town has invested more than USD4 million in an ambitious 114 ha restoration project. The mission was clear: heal the land, stabilize the slopes, and bring prosperity back to the community. Engineers reshaped mine pits, reinforced slopes, and built a water management network — 59 ponds, 53,000 meters of drainage ditches, and riverbank protections — to safeguard against erosion and add to biodivesrity and habitat for wildlife.

The real breakthrough came with vetiver grass, nicknamed the “ecological guardian.” Unlike shallow-rooted herbs that washed away in heavy rains, vetiver’s roots dive meters deep, anchoring soil like natural cables. Combined with oil tea, pine, and other local species, vetiver, targeted on erosion-prone slopes, helped boost vegetation coverage to an impressive 92 percent. More than 550,000 vetiver slips were planted and now thrive where nothing could grow before.

But Baisha Town didn’t stop at greening the mines. Leaders saw potential in the land’s acidic soil and introduced blueberry farming. Each mu (about 0.16 acres) can yield profits of USD 3,000 turning abandoned mines into a “treasure trove.” Aquaculture projects and partnerships with enterprises like Shennong Pig Farm have followed, creating new jobs and driving rural revitalization.

What was once a wasteland is now a model of sustainable development. Vetiver grass holds the slopes firm, blueberries sweeten the soil, and local families reap the rewards of a greener economy. Baisha Town’s story proves that with vision and innovation, even the deepest scars can be healed — and transformed into thriving landscapes of hope.

Feng Ziyuan who designed the restoration work is one of the world’s most experienced Vetiver Grass Tecchnology. This link shows some of his work including that on this mine site and the most recent at completion.
Feng Ziyuan (TVNI Technical Director)

Knowledge Resources

TVNI Archives

The Vetiver Network’s archive that covers past conferences and workshops of significance (1996 to 2023) has been improved by combining over 600 papers with supporting presentations into a sortable and searchable table.  This will allow practitioners to trace decades of innovation—from early slope stabilization and soil and water conservation trials to modern phytoremediation studies.

India, “Conversations Today” chronicles voices of change.

A selection of interviews that focuses on vetiver and organic farming, has been curated by P.N. Subramanian (CEO India Vetiver Foundation). The interviews highlight vetiver as a platform for entrepreneurship, women’s leadership, regenerative farming, green engineering, and local democracy. The lesson: “when robust plants are combined with disciplined farming, community ownership, and supportive science, they become potential scalable, people‑led climate change and livelihood solutions”. Jim Smyle will further address this topic in the upcoming December Newsletter.

Global Voices – Some of those leading the challenge of Climate Change using Nature Based Vetiver solutions.

TVNI is succesfsul in its mission because of the people around the world who are actively using Vetiver Grass Technology, promoting it, and sharing their experience and knowledge through various forums. To give a face to the extraordinary contribution that has and will be made listed below are profiles of some who perhaps stand out more than others.

Yorlene Cruz of Costa Rica.

Women are key to the development and expansion of the Vetiver System Yorlene Cruz stands o ut amongst the many fine and dedicated women who are involved. She has become one of the most influential voices for vetiver technology in Latin America. Based in Costa Rica, she directs Sistema Vetiver Costa Rica and serves on the Board of The Vetiver Network International (TVNI), where she has helped position her country as a model for vetiver-based bioengineering and restoration. Her path into vetiver work is distinctive: Before turning to ecological solutions, she built a career in corporate consulting with IBM and Procter & Gamble. That experience gave her a strong foundation in management and strategy, which she later applied to environmental innovation.

Since 2008, Yorlene has overseen projects that use vetiver grass to stabilize slopes, control erosion, and protect riverbanks and coastal zones. She has also advanced vetiver’s role in phytoremediation, applying it to soils and waters affected by mining, landfills, and residential development. Under her leadership, vetiver has been promoted not only as a tool for disaster risk reduction and ecosystem restoration, but also as a resource for agriculture, carbon sequestration, and sustainable livelihoods.

Her projects illustrate the plant’s versatility as both an ecological safeguard and a source of sustainable products. In the broader vetiver movement, she stands out as a practitioner who bridges restoration science with community resilience, ensuring that vetiver is not only a technical solution but also a pathway to sustainable development. She is the initiator and moderator of the monthly online 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐎 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐕𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑

Rafael Luque Mirabal – Venezuela 

He is one of the most dedicated champions of vetiver technology in Venezuela and the wider Latin American region. His journey with vetiver spans nearly two decades, during which he has consistently sought to demonstrate that this resilient grass is more than just a tool for erosion control—it is a pathway to sustainable development, community empowerment, and climate resilience.

Luque’s leadership was formally recognized when he was appointed Coordinator of the Latin American Vetiver Network (LAVN). In this role, he has worked to unify practitioners across the continent, fostering collaboration between farmers, extensionists, universities, and government agencies. His vision is not limited to technical applications; he frames vetiver as a strategic ally in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For him, vetiver is directly connected to ending poverty, ensuring food security, and mitigating climate change.

In Venezuela, Luque has promoted vetiver through workshops, field demonstrations, and partnerships with institutions such as the Ministry of Ecos-socialism (MINEC). These efforts highlight vetiver’s versatility: stabilizing slopes and riverbanks to protect communities from landslides and floods, improving soil fertility for smallholder farmers, and filtering wastewater to safeguard public health. He has also emphasized vetiver’s role in phytoremediation, helping restore lands degraded by mining and industrial activity. By linking vetiver to both ecological restoration and livelihood creation, Luque has broadened its appeal beyond engineers and scientists to include rural communities, policymakers, and entrepreneurs.

What sets Luque apart is his ability to articulate vetiver’s relevance in human terms. He speaks of vetiver as a “green technology” that can reduce vulnerability in marginalized communities, offering both immediate protection and long-term opportunity. His outreach often highlights vetiver’s cultural and economic dimensions—its use in artisanal crafts, its potential for carbon sequestration, and its contribution to sustainable agriculture. In this way, he positions vetiver not only as a plant but as a symbol of resilience and innovation in the face of Venezuela’s environmental and socio-economic challenges.

Through his coordination of the Latin American Vetiver Network, Luque is building bridges across borders. He envisions a continent-wide movement where vetiver practitioners share knowledge, adapt techniques to local conditions, and collectively advance restoration goals. His work underscores the importance of regional solidarity: that vetiver’s success in Costa Rica, Peru, or Haiti can inspire and inform solutions in Venezuela, Colombia, or Brazil.

Rafael Luque’s story is ultimately one of persistence and vision. In a country facing profound ecological and social pressures, he has kept vetiver at the center of conversations about sustainability. By combining technical expertise with advocacy, he has helped transform vetiver from a niche conservation tool into a regional strategy for resilience. His narrative enriches the global vetiver movement, showing how Latin America is not only adopting vetiver but actively shaping its future.

Jonathan Barcant – Vetiver Champion of Trinidad & Tobago

In the steep hillsides of Trinidad, where heavy rains often trigger landslides and erode fragile soils, Jonathan Barcant saw both a problem and a solution. Trained as a civil engineer, he recognized that traditional fixes—concrete walls, gabion baskets—were costly and often out of reach for rural communities. But vetiver grass, with its deep roots and natural resilience, offered a different path: one that was affordable, sustainable, and community-driven.

In 2014, Jonathan founded Vetiver TT Ecological Engineering Solutions Ltd, introducing the Vetiver System (VS) to Trinidad & Tobago. His vision was not just technical—it was social. He believed that communities themselves could become the engineers of their own resilience. Out of this belief grew the Vetiver Education & Empowerment Project (VEEP), a model that trains local residents to propagate, plant, and maintain vetiver grass on their own lands.

The first VEEP pilot took root in Paramin, a hillside farming community. Farmers learned to stabilize slopes, protect their homes, and safeguard their crops using vetiver hedgerows. Soon, the project spread across Trinidad and into other Caribbean islands, proving that the vetiver solution could scale through knowledge-sharing and empowerment rather than dependency on outside contractors.

Jonathan’s work has earned international recognition. In 2018, he received the Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development, honoring his role in linking climate resilience with community livelihoods. As a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, he has carried the Caribbean’s vetiver story to global stages, showing how small island states can innovate against climate threats.

Yet at the heart of his work is and continues to be the community ownership of resilience and his involvement of the younger generations through the IAMovement.  Though VEEP, vetiver is no longer just a plant; it is a tool of empowerment, a source of pride, and a bridge between ecological engineering and everyday survival. Jonathan Barcant’s journey demonstrates how one practitioner can transform a technical solution into a movement of people protecting their land, their homes, and their future. Jonathan is a Director of TBNI and the coordinator of The Vetiver Network West indies.

Paula Leão Rodrigues Pereira – Engineering Resilience with Vetiver in Brazil

In Brazil, where vast landscapes meet fragile slopes and powerful rivers, Paula Leão Rodrigues Pereira has emerged as one of the country’s leading voices in ecological engineering. Trained as a civil engineer and architect, Paula chose a path that blends technical rigor with ecological sensitivity. Her career at Deflor Bioengenharia has been defined by one mission: to prove that nature itself can be the most reliable engineer.

For Paula, vetiver grass is more than a plant—it is a living technology. With roots that plunge several meters deep, vetiver stabilizes slopes, protects highways, and shields communities from landslides. Under her guidance, Deflor Bioengenharia has applied vetiver hedgerows to safeguard construction sites, rehabilitate degraded lands, and restore riverbanks across Brazil. Each project demonstrates how bioengineering can replace costly, rigid structures with solutions that grow stronger over time.

Her work extends beyond engineering. Paula has presented Brazil’s vetiver case studies at international conferences, sharing research on root behavior, slope stabilization, and shoreline protection. She has shown how vetiver can filter pollutants, improve water quality, and integrate seamlessly into reforestation efforts. By documenting these successes, she has positioned Brazil as a regional leader in vetiver bioengineering.

What makes Paula’s story compelling is her ability to bridge science and community. In her vision, vetiver is not just a technical fix—it is a tool for resilience, livelihoods, and ecological balance.

Her narrative is one of engineering with nature, proving that sustainable solutions can be both technically sound and socially empowering.

Tho Ngo – Digital Grassroots Vetiver Champion of Vietnam

In Vietnam’s diverse landscapes—where sandy soils, steep hillsides, and tropical storms challenge farmers daily—Ngô Đức Thọ saw an opportunity to unite people around a simple but powerful solution: vetiver grass. An engineer by training and coordinator of the Vietnam Vetiver Network, Tho recognized that vetiver’s deep roots and resilience could transform farming practices. But instead of working only through formal institutions, he turned to social media, creating the Vietnam Vetiver Farmers Facebook group.

What began as a modest online forum quickly grew into one of the world’s largest vetiver communities, with currently 15,0000 members sharing photos, videos, and techniques. The group became a living classroom: farmers posted how vetiver hedgerows stopped erosion on their slopes, how mulching vetiver leaves cooled fruit and slowed ripening, and how intercropping vetiver with fruit trees created “symbiosis farming” that thrived even under extreme heat and drought.

Tho’s leadership is not about top-down instruction—it is about peer-to-peer empowerment. He encourages farmers to experiment, document their results, and share innovations. When storms threatened rural homes, the group organized charity drives to distribute vetiver slips freely. When droughts hit, members showed how vetiver survived where other crops failed, offering hope and practical solutions.

Beyond Vietnam, Tho has become a respected voice in the global vetiver movement. As an advisor to The Vetiver Network International (TVNI), he demonstrates how digital platforms can accelerate grassroots adoption of climate-smart technologies. His model shows that resilience is not only built in the soil—it is built in the connections between farmers, sharing knowledge across villages and borders.

At the heart of Tho Ngo’s story is a simple truth: vetiver is not just a plant, but a community movement. Through his vision, thousands of Vietnamese farmers have become innovators, teachers, and guardians of their land. His digital grassroots approach offers a powerful lesson for the world: when knowledge flows freely, resilience grows everywhere.

Roley Nöffke of South Africa

Roley Nöffke has long been recognized as one of South Africa’s pioneers in vetiver grass technology. From Johannesburg, he built his company, Hydromulch (Pty) Ltd, into a leader in bioengineering solutions, applying vetiver to some of the most challenging erosion and land rehabilitation projects across Africa. His work has spanned mine rehabilitation, infrastructure stabilization, and agricultural landscapes, always with the same conviction: that vetiver offers a natural, affordable, and sustainable alternative to costly mechanical systems.

Nöffke’s  has been deeply tied to both local and international networks. As a Board Director of The Vetiver Network International (TVNI) and former President of Region 2 of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), he has helped connect African restoration efforts with global expertise. His projects have taken him far beyond South Africa, into countries such as Mozambique, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Kinshasa, for example, vetiver hedgerows were used to stabilize massive gullies covering more than eleven hectares, while in Mozambique, vetiver was planted along the Maltize–Nacala railway line to prevent slope failure.

In South Africa itself, Nöffke has promoted vetiver for soil and water conservation in farming systems, particularly in erosion‑prone areas of Limpopo Province. He has also worked extensively on mine rehabilitation, using vetiver to stabilize soils around extraction sites in places like Guinea and Gabon. These projects demonstrate vetiver’s versatility: whether holding back collapsing urban gullies, protecting railway embankments, or restoring degraded mining landscapes, the plant consistently delivers results.

What sets Nöffke apart is his emphasis on community participation. He has always argued that vetiver should not be seen only as an engineering tool, but as a resource that empowers local people. By involving communities in planting and maintenance, he ensures that vetiver projects build both ecological resilience and social ownership.

Through decades of work, Roley Nöffke has shown how vetiver can be scaled from small farms to continental infrastructure projects. His history illustrates the power of combining technical expertise with grassroots engagement, making vetiver not just a solution for erosion, but a pathway to sustainable development across Africa.

Robinson Vanoh: Champion of Vetiver in Papua New Guinea

Robinson Vanoh has become the face of vetiver technology in Papua New Guinea, a country where steep slopes, heavy rains, and fragile soils make erosion a constant threat. His journey with vetiver began more than twenty years ago, when he saw firsthand how landslides and collapsing roads were undermining both rural livelihoods and national development. Convinced that communities needed a low‑cost, reliable solution, he turned to vetiver grass—a plant whose deep roots and clumping growth habit offered exactly the kind of natural engineering that Papua New Guinea required.

In the early 2000s, Vanoh founded Eagle Vetiver Systems Ltd, the first internationally certified vetiver company in Papua New Guinea and the wider South Pacific. Through this enterprise, he began distributing vetiver slips to farmers, schools, and local governments, eventually supplying more than a million plants across Port Moresby, Goroka, Lae, and other centers. His demonstration sites, such as the Kokoda Trail Motel, became living classrooms where visitors could see vetiver hedges holding slopes together, protecting infrastructure, and even supporting eco‑tourism.

Vanoh’s leadership soon extended beyond his own country. He was appointed to the Board of The Vetiver Network International (TVNI), where he took on responsibility for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the South Pacific. In this role, he helped establish and coordinates the Pacific Islands Community‑Based Vetiver Network, a non‑profit dedicated to grassroots adoption of vetiver technology in places like Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. His outreach often involved training youth groups, schools, and village leaders, showing them how vetiver could be planted as “green engineering” to protect homes, roads, and farms. In October Robinson was at the Echo Asia Conference in Thailand speaking on “Vetiver Grass: A Pathway to Climate Adaption and Smallholder Farm Resiliency”

Historically, vetiver had been introduced to Papua New Guinea in the 1980s in Kimbe, West New Britain, but it was Vanoh who gave the plant a national voice. He connected vetiver directly to Papua New Guinea’s Vision 2050, the country’s long‑term development plan, arguing that vetiver could help achieve goals of poverty reduction, food security, and environmental sustainability. For him, vetiver was not just a plant—it was a nature‑based solution for climate change adaptation, a way for communities to build resilience against floods, landslides, and droughts.

Over the years, Vanoh’s history has been marked by persistence and vision. He has promoted vetiver in schools, government workshops, and farmer field days, emphasizing its multiple benefits: erosion control, slope stabilization, water absorption, mulch production, and organic matter for farming systems. His work has made vetiver a household name in parts of Papua New Guinea, and his influence continues to spread across the Pacific Islands.

Old, New, Ongoing, Interesting Thoughts and Feedback about Regenerative Practices

Whilst creating the Conference proceedings content table mentioned above, I was inevitably drawn to the late O.Babalola’s 1990s research  relating to vetiver. His findings at that time relate to current regenerative focused applications of vetiver especially in the humid, wet, tropics.

O. Babalola — Nigerian agronomist and soil scientist- to be remembered

Babalola at the University of Ibadan, best known for his pioneering research on “black “vetiver grass (Vetiveria nigritana) for soil and water conservation in Nigeria. His work in the 1990s and 2000s provided some of the earliest scientific evidence in West Africa that vetiver could dramatically reduce erosion, conserve moisture, and improve crop yields. His work, some 30 years ago, supports the facts surfacing from farmers using vetiver in such areas as eastern Africa, India, Thailand and Vietnam.

His research on vetiver grass has shown its remarkable ability to conserve soil and water on sloping farmland. When vetiver strips are planted as hedges, they can reduce soil loss by as much as 70 percent and cut runoff water by 130 percent compared to control plots. The effectiveness of these hedgerows is most pronounced at the top of the slope, where the first vetiver strip traps nearly twice as much soil as those positioned further downslope. This conservation effect translates directly into improved crop performance: cowpea yields rise by 11 percent in seed and 20 percent in stover, while maize yields increase by an impressive 50 percent. Beyond yield gains, vetiver enhances soil moisture storage by 2 to 50 percent at varying depths, ensuring that water is conserved within the soil profile. It also improves nitrogen use efficiency by about 40 percent, allowing crops to make better use of available nutrients.

The influence of vetiver extends into soil variability and structure. Studies have demonstrated that vetiver hedges reduce bulk density and improve soil texture, creating conditions more favorable for plant growth. Clay content is consistently lower under vetiver plots—84g/kg compared to 91g/kg in non-vetiver soils—indicating a shift toward healthier soil structure. These hedges also foster greater faunal activity, enriching the soil with biological life that contributes to fertility and long-term resilience.

Nutrient and fertility management is another area where vetiver proves invaluable. When vetiver mulch is combined with organo-mineral fertilizer, nutrient losses are reduced and maize yields improve significantly. In contrast, the soil eroded and measured from non-vetiver plots are consistently higher in nutrients, underscoring vetiver’s role in keeping fertility in place rather than allowing it to wash downstream. The mulch itself adds a powerful dimension to vetiver’s benefits. It retains nitrogen and organic matter, maintaining soil fertility, and when applied with compost or fertilizer, it boosts yields beyond what fertilizer alone can achieve. Mulch also conserves moisture, reducing drought risk, while enriching the soil with humus and organic carbon that strengthen structure and microbial life. By recycling nutrients and conserving water, vetiver mulch reduces dependence on synthetic fertilizers, making farming more sustainable and affordable.

Taken together, these findings highlight vetiver grass as a scientifically validated, replicable, and cost-effective solution for combating erosion and soil degradation. Its combined roles in moisture conservation, nutrient efficiency, fertility management, and yield improvement make it particularly valuable for smallholder farmers working in erosion-prone regions. The work of researchers such as Babalola provides strong evidence that vetiver-based interventions can be scaled across Africa, offering a pathway toward climate-resilient farming systems and regenerative agriculture.

Lorna Thompson –  A Drought Mitigator – Spectacular Tomato Growth

“I’ve grown a variety of tomato called Pantano for years and saved my own seeds. Good sized fruit in a watered vegie garden are usually in a ballpark weight around the 160-170g mark.  I had some left over plants in the spring that had been neglected, and were really sick, but I couldn’t bear to throw them out, so I planted them next to the established Vetiver grass hedge at the end of a row. I expected them to die, as they would not be getting any water at all over summer. It’s been particularly dry this last few months, and we have received only 75mm of rain since well before the end of September which is a lot less than we’d normally expect. It’s been warm too.  …… But look at this! Good sized tomatoes, some twice the usual expected weight for this variety, on plants that don’t seem to care about those scant rainfall figures at all. If I scratch down in the dirt, it is as dry as snuff, and there’s no reason these plants should be alive, other than that they’ve got some symbiotic thing going on with the Vetiver grass. This box contains ten kilograms of fruit. Also to note, is that despite the extreme dry, there’s no “blossom end rot” AT ALL.  I have other varieties of tomatoes also looking spectacular growing alongside the grass, that are also bigger, fatter and well colored just the same.  It’s a pretty good advert for the old Chrysopogon zizanioides”.

Marco Hurtado of Ecuador

— Marco Hurtado, a software engineer, civic leader, and a vetiver grass advocate and user. Through JCI Quevedo and partnerships with universities and ministries, he has advanced vetiver as a nature‑based solution for climate resilience, soil health, and sustainable community development. His work in Ecuador contributes to the broader Latin American movement to scale vetiver technology for both rural and urban applications. He has an interesting Facebook page that demonstrates many ways that vetiver is being used in the agriculture/horticultural/bioengineering sectors. One of his recent posts is a short video using vetiver  to prevent potential landslide.

 

Allan Amps of the Philippines – farmer, entrepreneur, and community advocate

Allan a vetiver grass advocate and community organizer in the Philippines. Through his work with Disaster Help Tools (DHT), he promotes Vetiver Grass Technology as a nature‑based solution for climate resilience, flood mitigation, and soil restoration. His work bridges upland farmers’ practices with downstream community safety (flooding), showing how vetiver can be a unifying solution across landscapes. His leadership may help position vetiver as a 21st‑century green technology for resilience and ecological restoration in the communities that farm and live on or near Mt Apo. A recent newspaper article about his advocacy can be found here.

Peter Kingori of Kiambu, Kenya – Founder of Reclaim Your Soils Association

Peter is a seasoned trainer in sustainable agriculture and agroforestry—has devoted his career to helping communities embrace practices that restore ecosystems and strengthen livelihoods. As co‑founder of the Reclaim Your Soil Vetiver Association (Reclaim), he is now spearheading a new program aimed at improving the health of community soils and water resources. His vision recognizes that while individuals can play a role, only collective action will deliver meaningful and scalable progress.

As a first step in a new initiative, Program Manager Madam Nancy and Community Mobilizer Patricia recently convened a series of meetings with residential owners in Limuru town, about 15 miles from Nairobi. These discussions centered on how residents and developers could collaborate to keep local water bodies free from garbage and sewage originating from residential areas.

Residential owners were identified as critical stakeholders in safeguarding water sources. They were reminded that wetlands are interconnected: pollution in one area can easily spread, contaminating shallow wells that households and tenants depend on. Protecting clean water, therefore, is a shared responsibility.

This effort marks the first step in a vetiver‑based program designed to restore soil health and enhance water quality across Limuru’s diverse community—bringing together smallholder farmers, commercial estates, and residential neighborhoods in a united commitment to ecological resilience.

Caleb Omolo of Rongo, Kenya – Vetiver Grass: Nature’s Solution for Healthy Soils

Caleb Omolo is an environmentalist, farmer,  permaculture designer, and trainer who has become one of the country’s foremost advocates for vetiver grass and regenerative agriculture. He is celebrated for turning degraded land into thriving food forests and for training communities in sustainable farming practices.

Quote ..“Healthy soils are the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture. Across Africa, declining fertility, soil acidity, and erosion continue to undermine productivity. Yet nature has already provided one of the most effective and affordable answers: Vetiver grass.

Deep Roots, Strong Foundations — Vetiver’s dense, fibrous roots plunge several meters into the earth, weaving a living underground network that anchors soil and sparks biological activity. In partnership with beneficial bacteria and fungi, these roots unlock nutrients from deep layers, strengthen soil structure, and build resilience and fertility.

Creating Microclimates for Crops — When inter-cropped with maize, coffee, or beans, vetiver fosters a forest-like micro-environment—cool, moist, and biologically vibrant. Its mulch enriches the soil with organic matter, boosts moisture retention, and nurtures microbial life. Over time, this natural synergy produces healthier plants, reduces reliance on chemical fertilizers, and delivers higher yields.

Restoring Balance and Capturing Carbon — Vetiver plays a remarkable role in balancing soil pH, neutralizing acidity, and enabling crops to access nutrients more efficiently. At the same time, its deep-rooted system sequesters carbon underground, offering a natural defense against global warming and strengthening climate resilience.

Building Fertile, Resilient Ecosystems — Vetiver mulch attracts beneficial insects that help create humus rich in plant nutrients. This organic layer enhances fertility, conserves water, and reduces the need for costly inputs. The result is a self-sustaining system that works with nature rather than against it.

Scaling Impact Through Community Action — Sustainable soil management does not depend on expensive technology—it depends on collaboration with nature. Through training sessions and demonstration plots, Caleb and his team empower farmers to adopt vetiver-based practices, creating ripple effects of healthier soils, higher yields, and climate-resilient communities.

Living Proof in Rongo — At his demonstration site in Rongo, Sustainable Village Resources (SVR) is already inter-cropping vetiver with coffee, maize, and beans. The results are clear: thriving crops, restored soils, and flourishing micro-ecosystems that mirror the balance of natural forests. These living examples remind us that nature rewards those who choose to partner with her.”

Ramachandran Venkatasubramanian – Arizona – Vetiver in the Heat of the Desert

Under extreme desert summer weather, the radiated heat from a concrete wall can bake and kill a young tree planted next to the wall. Vetiver being highly resilient can be grown right next to the wall to form a green wall that prevents this radiated heat effect. Other positives for tree growth from the planted vetiver include the mulch available for trees and enhanced soil life and soil drainage. Photo taken in Arizona in the winter after a trim. Vetiver plants are 1.5years old.

Vonnie Roudette – St. Vincent and the Grenadines – Community Activist Extraordinaire

Vonnie, featured in our September Newsletter, is a community activist, project designer, and environmental advocate from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, best known for leading vetiver grass–based restoration and livelihood initiatives. She directs the “Hand2Earth Project”, which integrates ecological rehabilitation with craft-making, prisoner rehabilitation, and women’s empowerment. A note from her on her most reecent vetiver related community work.

“…. It really has been revealing to talk to the communities that were at one point vetiver villages – vetiver was a way of life at one time ……. he grew up the area amidst swathes of vetiver and had no idea of its purpose — he was completely astounded, as many are when they discover the knowledge and that was lost within one generation …. Our Vetiver family continues to grow as the word spreads and our community tours provide excellent conduits for community education. There is an agri-heritage tourism component developing as one of the sustainable livelihood avenues and we have four tour guides being certified by the SVG Tourism Authority. …. the renovation of a building in Troumaca is now our craft centre/showroom and meeting place/visitor hub ….. We  have some wonderful challenges in the Little Bay mini watershed,  tackling soil erosion that lead to some serious gully formation and landslides and siltation on the beach –  point source sediment flows come from: heavily tilled/dug farmlands on the northern side ; the grading of an inland playing field;  a poorly graded road to the playing field (an effective water catchment!); removal of the old vetiver hedgerows; and residential development … So we are using various interventions apart from vetiver planting – working with target farmers to install vetiver systems;construction of some check dams of various sorts and sizes ; other vegetative plantings and providing assistance for the residences to use vetiver on contour below their houses. Fortunately, we planted two hedgerows to protect a residential house foundation in 2022 so have a good example for others …. the interaction with the Barroulie farmers will be great! No longer will I be a solitary figure entering the village but will have a band of vetiver warriors now!!”

Imran Ahimbisibwe of EPIC – Lake Victoria Clean up

Imran Ahimbisibwe is a Ugandan environmentalist and project leader, serving as Managing Director of the Environmental Protection Information Centre (EPIC). He is known for his work on biodiversity conservation, socio-ecological production landscapes, and community-based restoration initiatives around Lake Victoria. He writes:

Since 2019, Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) has been introduced by EPIC and its partners to farming communities along the Lake Victoria lakeside. See these images. Farmers have embraced vetiver as a vital tool for climate mitigation, particularly in rainfed coffee production. During the recent drought, coffee trees planted alongside vetiver remained moisturized, while those without vetiver showed severe stress.

EPIC, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, is actively promoting VGT and exploring its integration into the ongoing EU/State‑funded Coffee and Cocoa Development Project (CoCoDev). This project aims to establish large‑scale coffee and cocoa farms. While many beneficiaries have the capacity to irrigate, cost‑benefit analyses demonstrate that VGT offers a more cost‑effective, nature‑based solution, relying entirely on locally available resources.

Evidence from the 2024 drought highlighted vetiver’s impact: a coffee tree growing within the vetiver root zone remained well moisturized, while a control tree on the same farm was severely dehydrated. One year later, the vetiver‑associated coffee tree was thriving, with healthy foliage and sprouting beans—despite the absence of artificial fertilizers. This shows that vetiver does not compete for nutrients but instead enhances resilience, enabling coffee trees to withstand prolonged droughts and continue growing productively.

The benefits of vetiver companion planting are now being observed not only in Kenya but also in neighboring countries, where farmers are applying the same approach with coffee and other fruit trees

Vetiver Sterility — the Question about Invasiveness

Vetiver Grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides, Sunshine Cultivar): A Sterile, Non-Invasive Solution for Restoration

The Sunshine cultivar of Chrysopogon zizanioides represents the global standard for Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT). Selected from South Indian ecotypes, perhaaps 200 years ago landing up in Louisana, USA, where it was used for it aromatic properties, it is distinguished by its sterility and clump-forming growth habit. These traits make it uniquely safe for ecological restoration, as it cannot spread uncontrollably. Today, Sunshine vetiver cultivars are used in more than 120 countries for erosion control, slope stabilization, and phytoremediation. Thousands of scientific studies have been conducted on this single sterile genotype.

The sterility of Sunshine vetiver was first confirmed by U.C. Lavania, a cytogeneticist at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP). His research demonstrated that South Indian vetiver types are functionally sterile, leading to the development of CIMAP-KH 40, a non-seeding autotetraploid clone optimized for carbon sequestration and slope stabilization. Field trials reinforce this conclusion: germination tests conducted by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture in the early 1990s produced only one seedling, which failed to survive, and more than fifteen years of observation in the Pacific Islands revealed no volunteer seedlings. Sunshine vetiver reproduces only through vegetative propagation—root divisions—ensuring that its spread is entirely controlled by human intervention. Genetic sequencing and chloroplast genome analysis further confirm its sterility and uniformity.

Equally important is Sunshine’s non-invasive behavior. Unlike many grasses, it produces no rhizomes or stolons and grows in tight clumps that remain exactly where planted. The Hawaii-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment rated Sunshine vetiver at -8, a score indicating very low risk of invasiveness. Decades of field use have shown no evidence of escape or colonization, underscoring its ecological safety.

Robert P. Adams, a leading plant geneticist, reinforced these findings through DNA studies using RAPD markers. His work confirmed that nearly all vetiver used worldwide belongs to the same sterile genotype—Sunshine. Adams emphasized the safety of this uniformity, noting the absence of viable seed production and genetic variation across global plantings. At the same time, he cautioned against over-reliance on a single clone, recommending the identification of additional non-fertile genotypes to enhance ecological resilience. He also proposed ethanol-based preservation protocols for vetiver DNA to support future research and breeding.

The ecological safety of Sunshine vetiver has been formally recognized by institutions such as the USDA NRCS (Vetiver grass Plant Guide) which recommends Sunshine as the only vetiver cultivar suitable for use in the Pacific Islands Area. Its global adoption—spanning more than 120 countries—demonstrates its reliability in diverse contexts, from stabilizing infrastructure slopes to treating wastewater, all without reports of invasiveness.

Comparative studies highlight why Chrysopogon zizanioides is preferred over related species such as Chrysopogon nigritanus. A 2014 study  in South Africa used DNA sequencing and root anatomy to compare the two: C. zizanioides showed minimal genetic variation, consistent with its clonal propagation, while C. nigritanus exhibited greater diversity due to sexual reproduction. Root anatomy was largely similar, though some C. nigritanus isolates formed starch granules, a minor distinction. The ecological implications are significant: while C. nigritanus is native to Africa and morphologically similar, its ability to produce seed makes it less suitable for engineered systems where containment is critical. In contrast, sterile clones of C. zizanioides, such as Sunshine and Monto, provide uniform performance and eliminate the risk of uncontrolled spread.

Taken together, the evidence positions Sunshine vetiver as a scientifically validated, sterile, and non-invasive solution for restoration. Its genetic uniformity, proven sterility, and decades of safe field use make it a cornerstone of sustainable land management worldwide.

Post script: a link to some correspondence with Dr. U.C. Lavania relating to C. zizanioides and C. nigritanus and weediness

Dick Grimshaw, Nov 28, 2025