How to start planting vetiver in a community of Haiti

We are very happy so many people are asking us where to buy vetiver to start their own program. Vetiver is the best, most cost effective and easiest way to stop erosion.

One of the best properties of vetiver it is not evasive it stays where you plant it, but that means it is not easily grown from seed, it must be propagated.

Leaders should first read up everything about this plant In order to explain the benefits of vetiver hedgerows to local farmers you must understand them. I suggest you read through our site clicking all the sub tabs under vetiver and Vetiver International site click here.  You can learn and even teach from these power point subjects click here. 　

Before you start a program and look at buying plants, talk to the farmers who live there. Ask them if they know what vetiver is and if they have many clumps of it nearby. You may be surprised they may even know how to propagate it. But they will not know how to grow it in hedgerows correctly nor how important it is or all of its uses.

You must explain the importance of growing vetiver for erosion control and how it makes its own terraces. You must explain that if they keep cultivating the hillsides without stopping erosion the land will become worthless.

Vetiver is not commonly bought in Haiti, it is a clump plant that can be dug up and multiplied into hundreds of slips that can be replanted.

Here is a nursery field being transplanted

If  you are planting more acerage than you have clumps you will have to start a nursery such  shown on this link.  Nurery slips are planted 1/2 meter or 15" apart in staggerd rows.

  Joel Ducasse  has the largest vetiver nurseries in Haiti and  has plans great plans for getting people to grow vetiver hedgerows throughout Haiti!  He plans on using the leaves for electrical generation in remote areas.  He may come up with a bartering system for farmers who grow and bring its leaves to make pellets or bundles for electrical generation for stoves or electrical power.

  Joel Ducasse  You can contact Joel for pricing at biorsa@yahoo.com , Phone: 509-3816-7675.

He has a large multiplication nursery (in Arachaie-Cabaret, Northwest of Port-au-Prince) and another at Ennery, both can produce 200,000 slips a week,

After trimming and dividing vetiver clumps Joel put slips in bundles of 100 and leaves them redevelop good root ends so they will grow fast.  He also like to deliver all his plants to location over night so they are fresh and ready to plant in the morning.

he also sells Vetiver
by "the meter" and has employees that can plant and install.

Joel's employees water these strips twice a day while they are growing roots on plastic which would dry out otherwise.

Junior Luders is managing the Vetiver program at the WINNER project, a large consumer and applier of the Vetiver System. Luders Junior Lac at: lluc@winner.ht.Tel: 509 3702 8864 Luders is the Vetiver Coordinator for WINNER project; has helped establish smaller independent rural nurseries around the Northern part of Haiti. He is super busy, but also very helpful, and can get trained people in VS to provide coaching or technical support. Junior’s mobile is: 370 28864 If you have a very large area you want to cover you might want to consider starting your own nursery as long as you have growing range with a water supply after you propagate the plants.
The video at the bottom of the page you will see a clump of vetiver that can easily be completely turned into 100s of vetiver bare root slips for planting.  Far better than buying and transporting.

The PDF below is great way to divide and propagate them although I do not advise using culms, bare roots are much easier.  But to give them a head start you can pre-plant them in strips before rainy season begins as show in this PROPAGATION AND MANAGEMENT OF VETIVER NURSERY PDF Click here Click here to see slides of correct propagation and planting vetiver