Vetiver/ khus (chrysopogon zizanioides)
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Revision as of 20:05, 9 September 2026
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Pilot project, 2026
Joeanna.Fernandes, August 31, 2026: The Times of India
As Nepal tallies the cost of its recent disaster, vetiver, a humble grass with roots in India, is drawing attention as a low-cost defence against floods and landslides. Known for essential oils and sherbets, it is now being revived for its dense, deep roots that bind soil, slow runoff and hold slopes together in heavy rain.
Last week, in a pilot commissioned to an agribusiness firm, Central Railways planted 10,000 slips of vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides) across 5,600sqm of hillside in the Bhor Ghat section between Karjat and Lonavala. On July 6, a heavy-rain landslide tore through part of the tracks here, halting train services for 23 days.
According to the Geological Survey of India, 12.6% of India’s land area (excluding snow-covered regions) is prone to landslide hazards, a figure climate change and unchecked development could raise. CR has traditionally relied on grey engineering — concrete and steel — to stabilise slopes and reinforce embankments.
This year, for the first time, CR is adding vetiver, the “living nail”, whose roots can grow up to 4m and have tensile strength one-sixth that of mild steel. A CR official says bioengineering is being used on high embankments compromised by rain where soil has lost shear strength. Two sites, 1km and 15km from the landslide site, were chosen for the ongoing Rs 5 lakh pilot, with slips planted along hill contours.
Chandan Ghosh, ex-head of NIDM, explains that rainfall infiltration raises pore water pressure; vetiver’s porous root infrastructure channels water through the slope face, reducing instability.
At a nursery in Neral, Saguna Sustainability Solutions is running CR’s pilot. Founder Chandrashekhar Bhadsavle has studied vetiver for over a decade. With associates Anil Nivalkar and Parshuram Agival, he found vetiver absorbed nearly 100% of incident rainfall versus 40% on barren soil, and he is studying its role in reducing salinity.
Govts are also trialling it: Himachal SDMA began a bioengineering pilot last year and set up a Solan nursery. CISF planted a lakh slips with 1,000 trees across six acres of Yamuna riverbanks in Delhi.
