Vetiver grass in Islamabad
Jacky Foo
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Submitted by Jacky Foo on Sun, 15/07/2007 - 07:38.
Walt Dennig wrote:
(http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/970/3259#comment-3259 )
>I'm thinking that the climate in Islamabad is
>just perfect for Vetiver.
Jacky wrote
(http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/970/3260#comment-3260 )
>I googled "climate islamabad" and got this link
>that I found very useful.
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT002680
>
>Min-max average temperatures run between 2 and 40
>Celcius with an interesting 2 months (July, August)
>of very heavy rain (233-258 mm) compared to the
>other months (12-85 mm per month).
To Dick G, Walt Denning and Liaqat H
Q: How well does Vetiver grass grow in Islamabad ?
-----
Jacky Foo
http://www.iobbnet.org
Jacky Foo
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Vetiver Grass growth in Islamabad
Submitted by Dick Grimshaw on Sun, 15/07/2007 - 14:38.
Vetiver grass will grow and survive virtually anywhere except where
there is permanent frozen ground during the winter months. Vetiver
will thus grow well along the Himalayan foothills. In this waste water
application vetiver will flourish because of the high nutrient status
of the waste water and the quantity of water available, combined with
high temperatures its growth rate will be in the order of 70 - 100
tons of dry matter equivalent per ha.
On the matter of use of vetiver grass I just received this message
from M.P.Singh located in Chandigarh, Punjab
" I had put up a nursery of Vetiver near Ropar, in the Kandi area.
There are a lot of wild animals like deer, barasingha, wild boar wild
goats and also local people's cows. Initially I had not catered for
any fencing. As the greening of the vetiver started, these animals
started coming in. Before they could do any damage, I fenced the area.
I had instructed the workers to harvest the foliage every few days and
to use the foliage for mulching. I went there today as we have to plan
despatch of the tillers to the project site. I found that despite
several harvests, there was no trace of the foliage anywhere. It
appears, the workers are taking it home and giving it to their cattle.
They report that the cattle have very easily adapted themselves to
vetiver as part of their daily meal. The cattle do not graze the local
variety. There is evidence of nocturnal intruders coming and grazing."
Please note that Singh is using South Indian vetiver which is
partially "domesticated", is more vigorous, and generally is a lot
better than local "Khus Khus". I am sure that there Singh and others
would help arrange the procurement of this cultivar if needed in
Islamabad
Dick Grimshaw
Liaqat Hayat
To Jacky Foo
I have still to work on to find location where vetiver grass grow in Islamabad and then can comment how well it grows. I have written to M.P. Singh on the subject as suggested by Grimshaw Richard.
With best Regards,
Liaqat Hayat.
Source: http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/node/view/970/3289#comment-3289
++++++++++
Vetiver grass in Islamabad
Submitted by Jacky Foo on Sun, 15/07/2007 - 07:38.
Walt Dennig wrote:
>I'm thinking that the climate in Islamabad is
>just perfect for Vetiver.
Jacky wrote
Jacky Foo
++++++++++++
----forwarded message------
Re: Vetiver grass in Islamabad
Submitted by M P Singh on Tue, 17/07/2007
I am sorry I could not reply to you earlier as I was slightly incapacitated due to a minor accident. I have sent you a reply today. I just joined this forum yesterday. Am copying my reply here to:
Dear Liaquat Hayat,
Thank you for your letter. Dick Grimshaw had also sent me a link to the discussion on the eworkshop, I have had a once over. As he has told you, the No.1 expert on the issue is Dr. Paul Truong. I can share with you the local adaptation in the context of our region. I am sorry, I may have to go beyond the limits of your question. But since you are likely to face similar problem, being in the same geographical and cultural region, I would like you to have a little background.
For the last three years I have been involved in providing NRI ( Non resident Indian) NGOs with Technical support on providing sanitation facilities in the Villages in Punjab. The Punjab here is not much different from the Punjab in Pakistan. What we have been doing here is:
1) Providing Simplified Sewerage System ( Underground) in villages. This is a slightly modified version of the one reccommended by Prof. Duncan Mara and has already been used in some backward Mohajir ( Refugee, majorly Beharis and Bangladeshis) Colony in Karachi some years back and maybe in several other places later.
2) Providing Primary treatment mostly via conventional septic tank giving it a Hydraulic residence time of about 48 hours.
3) Providing secondary treatment with either of the following:
a) Providing a recirculating sand & Gravel filter and then taking the water to a village pond, for onward usage in the fields. This method is expensive, energy intensive and requires maintenance.
b) Providing duckweed treatment followed by fishery. Community sharing of the fish is a problem.
c) Providing leechfields, depending on the subsoil. Ground water pollution ?????
4) Disposal of the water via irrigation of fields or via disposal in nallahs.
There is a Bein which was, till recently known as the Kali Bein, as it was a rivulet that has been polluted by the sewage of 8 towns and 44 villages. The significance of this bein is that Guru Nanak, who spent most of his life in Sultanpur Lodhi, a town near Kapurthala & Jalandhar, got his 'Enlightenment' here. A religeous leader and a lover of society started a Kar Sewa ( Donation of one's labour) to clean up the river. This resulted in a social awareness and people came in throngs to clean up the bein.
The Govt. woke up and decided to help the Good man in his job. The president of India gave personal attention to the project. So the result was that a special committee was formed, cutting across various departments to oversee the stoppage of flow of of wastewater.
I run an NGO called Earthizenz, which is a little more penniless than me, but fortunately has the spirit and the guts to support the correct cause at all costs.
Last year we offered the Govt. of Punjab to help take this project forward as a "Community development Project" , and develop it as per UNFCCC guidelines as a CDM project, under the Kyoto Protocol. I am now a member of the committee and we have so far decided as under:
1) Provide liquid and solid waste management facilities in all 44 villages and 8 towns.
2) The technology would essentially involve methane capture in the primary treatment stage so that carbon credits are ensured for funding of the project. It looks Techy, but we have suggested a simplified solution for a modified septic tank.
3) Secondary treatment via Vetiver: we can discuss the options as we go along and as Paul Truong also joins in. Suffice it to say that the variety that you and I have over here in North India and in Islamabad, is bad for all the reasons that we caution against planting plants from outside. Our varieties are profusely seeding, colonising an invasive. The prooof of the non-invasiveness of the South Indian Variety lies in the fact that it has traveresed the world over and is a winner without invasion.
4) We are also using Vetiver for the stabilisation of the banks of the Bein. Paul is advising me on this. Vetiver roots, as you have learnt in this eworkshop, silently run very deep. They form a sort of retaining wall.
5) Our varieties do not have such deep roots (2-3 meters) and hence canoot perform the engineering functions that we are talking about.
I have discussed this issue with experts like Dick and Paul. I have also discussed it with people who have worked on Vetiver research for years. The opinion is the same. No doubt about its capabilities. But use the same ecotype that has been tried and tested that does not invade and goes out of control.
We can discuss more about the economics of the nursery as we move along.
Best wishes,
MPS
Earthizenz
Empowering Communities