Mon 15 Feb 93 23:21 By: Helen Fleischer Re: vetiver Thought you might find the following article interesting: Grass Species Could Save Vast Amount of Cropland: Plant Creates Terraces on Eroding Hillsides By Boyce Rensberger Washington Post Staff Writer A "simple and universally applicable" solution to the problem of soil erosion, which destroys millions of acres of farmland annually in the tropics, is a little-known species of grass with a remarkable way of growing, the National Research Council reported yesterday. Called vetiver, the species can act as the botanical equivalent of a civil engineer, turning eroding slopes into t erraced hillsides, said a panel of council scientists. Planted single file in horizontal lines across hills, they said, the bunch grass quickly sinks roots six to 1O fee t deep, sends tough blades the same distance up and grows into a living retaining wall that traps soil washing down the slope. As soil accumulates against one side of the hedge, the plant's crown grows higher to keep pace. In time, vetive r converts the eroding slope into a permanently terraced landscape. Unlike some other plants that were touted for erosion control but quickly became pests, vetiver does not spread. It does not send out runners or rhizomes, and even its seeds usually are sterile. As a result, vetiver stays put, growi ng into a dense palisade of stems and leaves. Typically, a vetiver hedge-row becomes no more than a foot or two thick e ven after decades. At least as important as erosion control. the panel said, is that the grass wall becomes so dense that water runni ng off the slope cannot flow through quickly. Instead, it soaks into the ground, often making land that was too dry to farm productive and even raising water tables. "I was skeptical at first," Norman E. Borlaug, the panel's chairman, said in a statement. Borlaug won a Nobel Pea ce prize for his work early in the "green revolution" in developing high yielding varieties of wheat. "But I've seen vetiver at work, And I know that in these times of great ecological concern about what is happening to our soil because of erosion, vetiver could indeed play a very usefu l role in many places. I see all sorts of potential." Soil erosion, though lacking the popular appeal of many environmental problems, is considered serious by many peop le such as Borlaug who work in agriculture and Third World development. In Zimbabwe, for example, it is estimated that farmers would have to spend $1.5 billion a year on fertilizer to compensate for soil nutrients lost to erosion in one y ear. Vetiver's ability to stand up to major rainstorms was highlighted by an anecdote in the report. Planted on a sugar-cane plantation on a mountainside in Fiji, the lines of tall grass were assaulted by a storm that dumped 20 inches of rain in three hours. "Water poured over the top of the vetiver hedges like a tidal wave," the report said, "but the plants remained in place, undamaged and unbreached." The runoff cut no gullies. Noel D. Vietmeyer, who has long led the council's efforts to find and promote innovations that benefit agriculture in developing countries, said vetiver should be especially attractive to subsistence farmers because it is cheap, easy to understand and implement and produces immediate benefits. "Because it improves soil moisture, this puts erosion control in the short-term self interest of people on the lan d," Vietmeyer said, referring to the fact that the long-term problem of soil erosion is not often uppermost in the mind s of farmers who must produce a crop immediately. "Vetiver is simple and universally applicable for erosion control in the tropics." Thought to be native to India, vetiver was introduced to many other countries by colonists, primarily because its fragrant roots can be used to control moths in stored clothing. For example. vetiver has been growing in Louisiana sin ce before the Civil War. According to the report, vetiver grows in all types of soils and in climates from the wettest to the semi-arid. It thrives in tropical heat but in Georgia has tolerated cold to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. It generally is free of diseases and pests, and the leaves can be cut to make ropes, hats, thatching and mats or used for mulch and animal bedding. The report, "Vetiver: A Thin Green Line Against Erosion," is available for $12 from National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20418. * Origin: Three Mausketeers (1:109/172) Mon 15 Feb 93 23:21 By: Helen Fleischer The following article was clipped from the Washington Post, Saturday, February 6, 1993: MD Targets Farmers in Bay Plan: Antipollution Efforts Would Be Voluntary Associated Press BALTIMORE-- A new state plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay relies heavily on voluntary efforts by farmers to reduce runoff polluting the bay. Environmentalists promptly criticiz ed the plan unveiled this week, saying it does not go far enough. Computer studies show that the state's 2.9 million acres of farmland are the biggest source of bay pollutants. Farms are the source of 38 percent of the nitrogen and 48 percent of the phosphorus entering state waters, studies show. Nitrogen and phosphorus feed which block sunlight grasses and r ob the water fish need to breathe. Regulations are in the works that would require farmers to control erosion and reduce runoff from large livestock operations, officials said. But the annOUnCement this week emphasizes voluntary measures,such as having fertilizer sales agents and farmers pe rsuade colleagues about the benefits of using less fertilizer and curbing nutrient-laden runoff from fields. "We can't afford a program that runs our farmers out of business," said Robert L, Walker, state agriculture secret ary. However, Sen, Gerald W , Winegrad (D Anne Arundel) called the state's program "horse manure" and vowed to introduc e two bills that would make pollution controls mandatory for more farmers and would tax fertilizer and pesticide sales to finance agricultural cleanup efforts. More than 70,000 erosion control measures -- some as simple as leaving grassy buffers between fields and streams -- have been done on more than 1 million acres of Maryland farmland since 1985. But 180,000 acres, or 10 percent of the state's farmland and pastures, are covered by "nutrient-management plans," which provide guidelines to help farmers red uce fertilizer use and minimize runoff. If the state is to meet its goal of reducing the nutrients entering the bay by 40 percent by the end of the decade , at least 70 percent of farm land must be covered by such plans, state officials said. We have to give these things a little bit of time," said C. William Knill, president of the Maryland Farm Bureau. -*-*- Hmm, I wonder if vetiver will grow in Maryland? --Helen * Origin: Three Mausketeers (1:109/172)