Veticon Consulting: The Vetiver System

An Introduction to the Vetiver System

The Vetiver System (VS) is based on the application of vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.), which was first developed by the World Bank as a low cost and effective technique of soil and water conservation in India early in the 1980s, but due to the extraordinary morphological and physiological characteristics of vetiver grass, VS applications have been extended to the field of bioengineering and environmental protection including phytoremediation (www.vetiver.org).

Monto Vetiver

In ecologically isolated countries such as Australia, all species endemic to other parts of the world need to be thoroughly investigated before they are released. It is imperative that plants introduced for environmental protection purposes do not become weeds in the local environment. A sterile cultivar, registered as Monto Vetiver, was selected from a number of vetiver cultivars availible in Australia. Its release has been approved by the Queensland Department of Environment.

Monto Vetiver does not produce viable seeds, though it does flower under certain conditions. The sterility of Monto Vetiver is of fundamental importance for the protection of the Australian environment. Other vetiver varieties available in Australia are not sterile, and thus should not be used.

Monto Vetiver (known internationally as Sunshine Vetiver) has been introduced in tropical countries for more than 100 years. It has grown in good and poor soils, on dry and swampy lands, and has never become a weed. In Fiji, where Monto or Sunshine Vetiver hedges have been used extensively for 50 years, farmers and agriculturalists know of no incidence where it has spread of its own accord. Once established, Monto Vetiver plants stay where they are planted.

Vetiver's Tensile Strength

Research in Malaysia showed that the tensile strength of the deep-rooted vetiver plant is equivalent to one sixth of mild steel reinforcement; this finding has led to extensive use of VS as an effective and low cost bioengineering tool for steep slope stabilisation in Australia, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Vetiver's Environmental Tolerance

R & D conducted in Australia by Veticon's Principal Consultant have shown that vetiver grass can tolerate extreme climatic and edaphic conditions including heavy metal toxicities. Dr Truong has also established the benchmark tolerance levels of the heavy metal contaminants, herbicides and pesticides common in Australian agricultural, mining and manufacturing industries. These findings have led to extensive use of the VS in recent years as an effective and low cost environmental protection and phytoremediation tool in Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America.

Vetiver's Cost Efficiency

The main advantage of the Vetiver System as compared with conventional engineering solutions is its much lower costs. Based on the Queensland Main Roads Department experience the savings were 73% and 64% for culvert protection and, general erosion and sediment control respectively. The other main advantage of the VS is that, as the Monto vetiver plant grows older, its efficiency improves. This is in sharp contrasts with conventional engineering methods such as earthen, rock and concrete structures, which require frequent and costly repairs and maintenance with age.

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