Where & When: India; published May 2025  ResearchGate

What Happened: The study assessed how vetiver roots modify infiltration and permeability across different soil types (silty vs. sandy). Tests using soil columns and SWCC found that vetiver affects hydrological behaviour uniquely depending on soil gradation.

Impact: Highlights the importance of soil-specific consideration when applying vetiver for slope or erosion control—enhancing its targeted utility.

Where & When: Cambodia, as documented in recent Asian Development Bank-led initiatives ADB

What Happened: Vetiver was used as part of soil bioengineering approaches to support infrastructure development—protecting embankments and reducing erosion risks.

Impact: Successfully stabilized infrastructure-adjacent slopes and reduced soil movement, promoting long-term durability.  vetiver-australia.com

Where & When: Australia; ongoing applications as of 2024.

What Happened: Vetiver was planted across mining spoil sites and overgrazed paddocks.

Impact:

• • Stabilized loose soil via its deep 3–4 m roots.

  • Improved soil fertility by capturing organic matter and nutrients.

  • Phytoremediated polluted soils, tolerating heavy metals and other contaminants.

  • Enhanced water infiltration to support native vegetation regrowth.

  • Restores contaminated land

Where & When: Khulna & Mymensingh, Bangladesh; study published January 2025. Vetiver

What Happened: Vetiver grass was grown hydroponically in container trials to treat tannery wastewater loaded with chromium and organic contaminants.

Impact: Over 45 days, vetiver achieved significant reductions—Cr levels dropped ~79.7%, COD by 81.2%, BOD by 84.7%, turbidity by 33.2%, and total dissolved solids by 72.6%, all reaching acceptable discharge levels. Vetiver

Where & When: Bangladesh, presented at CIGOS 2024 (Ho Chi Minh City) conference, published June 2024

What Happened: Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT), alone and combined with recycled plastic pins (RPP), was trialed on disparate terrains—char lands and a saline coastal zone—under Project LoGIC. Field performance, numerical modeling, and cost analyses were conducted using PLAXIS 2D.

Impact: Vetiver (with/without RPP) improved slope safety and reduced deformation. This bioengineering approach proved more cost-effective than conventional slope stabilization methods.

Where & When: South Central China; research published January 2023 MDPI

What Happened: Researchers analyzed how vetiver root morphology influences soil–water characteristic curves (SWCC), root surface area, root volume ratio, and matric suction in vegetated soils.

Impact: Findings showed that vetiver significantly enhances water retention and soil matric suction, helping reduce evaporation and improve slope stability—providing scientific evidence of vetiver’s eco‑engineering value.

Where & When: Kerala, India—field studies carried out in 2016, supported by reports through mid‑2020s vetiver.org+1

What Happened: Under MGNREGA, vetiver was planted for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco‑DRR), specifically to combat slope failure and erosion. Photos document root anchorage, slope greening, and stabilization.

Impact: Vetiver proved to be a cost-effective, resilient tool for disaster mitigation, ecosystem restoration, and community-based implementation strategies. longdom

Where & When: Malawi; published October 2023 African Journals Online

What Happened: A field experiment compared vetiver hedgerow spacing of 2 m vs. 4 m on a 17% slope. Erosion pins tracked soil loss over six months.

Impact: The 2 m spacing achieved significantly lower erosion (~1.2 cm) than the 4 m spacing (~2 cm), confirming that closer planting increases erosion mitigation efficiency.

Where & When: San Luis Potosí, Mexico; setup in 2022–2023. Vetiver

What Happened: At the Huasteca Regenerative Agriculture Experimentation Center, contour-hedgerow vetiver planting was leveraged to build a polyculture food forest demonstration site.

Impact: Facilitates soil conservation, watershed protection, and hands-on education in regenerative land management. Vetiver

Where & When: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; project took place around 2022–2023. Vetiver

What Happened: Vetiver was incorporated into constructed wetlands to treat landfill leachate, irrigated via a central pivot system for dispersion.

Impact: Vetiver aids in nutrient uptake and filtration, helping comply with environmental discharge regulations and safeguarding surrounding ecosystems. Vetiver

Where & When: Western Kenya, reported in TVNI’s December 2023 newslettervetiver.org

What Happened: Trees For the Future (TFF) introduced vetiver into agroforestry. They established nurseries and trained farmers—especially women—on contour hedgerow planting using slips spaced at 20 cm within rows and 50 cm between rows. A farmer, Dani Odari, transformed a former landfill into a productive, erosion-resistant food forest using vetiver.

Impact: Demonstrates vetiver’s dual role in land regeneration and socioeconomic uplift through community engagement.

Where & When: Thailand, part of the Doi Tung Royal Development Project (initiated in 1992).

What Happened: Vetiver grass was planted on degraded, compacted terrain to rehabilitate soil structure and restore fertility. Trials showed vetiver roots penetrating hardpan soil and improving both physical and chemical properties.

Impact: Vetiver roots reached depths of up to 5.2 m within eight months, facilitating water infiltration, reducing soil acidity, and enhancing soil fertility—a compelling demonstration of its ecological restoration potential.  MDPI

• In Indonesia, research showed soil loss dropped from 120 t/ha/year (control) to 13.2 t/ha/year in the second year and just 0.56 t/ha/year by the third year after vetiver hedgerow planting vetiver.org.

• In Thailand, vetiver hedges around orchards conserved soil moisture better than traditional farming, with single-row plantings outperforming double-row layouts in growth metrics; both significantly reduced soil loss compared to controls vetiver.org.

• In Fiji, vetiver systems used since roughly 50 years ago for sugarcane farms boosted yields by up to 55% when implemented properly vetiver.org.

• Where & When: Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang; published in 2017.
  
  

• What Happened: Vetiver plants were tested under varying root lengths and densities to remove heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn, Cu) from contaminated water in lab conditions.
  
  

• Impact: Achieved up to 96% removal of iron, followed by Zn, Pb, Mn, and Cu; highest removal occurred with longer roots and higher planting density.
  Matec Conferences

Case Study I (Kottayam district, May 2016): A 750‑m stretch of road vulnerable to seasonal flooding and bund erosion was planted with vetiver hedges; these effectively protected the elevated road section Longdom.

Case Study II (Idukki district, 2010 onward): Applying contour vetiver hedges at a high-risk tea plantation prevented erosion and landslips, replacing mechanical bunding with eco-friendly solutions; vetiver also suppressed weeds and improved soil and water quality Longdom.

In November 2016, about 700 vetiver slips were planted along the polluted Pamba River bank under India’s MGNREGA scheme, involving local governance and community labor for river purification and hazard mitigation Longdom.

• Where & When: Poblacion, Atok, Benguet Province, northern Philippines; project published in June 2015.
  
  

• What Happened: A nursery was established to grow vetiver seedlings for use in slope stabilization. The pilot aimed to test vetiver’s potential in holding soil on steep, landslide-prone terrain.
  
  

• Impact: Demonstrated that vetiver can be propagated locally and used effectively for bioengineering on challenging slopes, offering a nature-based solution for landslide risk reduction.  National Academies PressWikipedia

Where & When: Toogoolawah, Southeast Queensland; implemented from early 2000s.

What Happened: A vetiver grass wetland was constructed to treat nutrient-rich sewage effluent. Ponds planted with vetiver and surrounding wetland rows served as natural filtration.

Impact: Significantly reduced nutrient loads from effluent, routinely achieving compliance with environmental discharge standards—even during wet periods.  ResearchGate

After storms like Hurricane Mitch (1998) devastated infrastructure, analysis revealed that Vetiver Grass Technology (VGT) effectively protected roads, dams, and farmland from heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides.

This led to a World Bank-sponsored bioengineering workshop in May 1999 in El Salvador, bringing together regional experts to share experiences applying VGT for stabilization vetiver.org.

Introduced in 1988 via the World Bank–funded Red Soil Project, vetiver was trialed across various southern provinces vetiver.org.

A 1996 launch of provincial Vetiver Network (CVN), followed by a regional workshop in 1997, helped scale vetiver experiments across provinces including Hainan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, and others vetiver.org.

In 1989, researcher P.K. Yoon of the Rubber Research Institute initiated vetiver trials in Malaysia after seeing World Bank reports. Starting with just 57 tillers, he propagated them into 200,000 plants within 18 months, distributing them for erosion testing National Academies Press.

Within 3 months, hedgerows planted across a gully trapped enough sediment to eliminate it and level the slope National Academies Press. Another storm event in 1990 washed out comparison plots, but vetiver-planted areas remained intact National Academies Press.

Additional benefits: vetiver leaves fed fish and sheep; the mulch suppressed weeds, retained moisture, and enriched soil National Academies Press.