Abstract
Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides) is a perennial grass of Poaceae family, native to India. Vetiver production systems in Western Ghat region in India support livelihoods of small farmers. Vetiver systems have diverse economic and ecological uses. Vetiver is a major industrial crop and is grown for its essential oil that is used extensively world over in flavor and fragrance industries. Vetiver is also used in manufacture of handy-crafts, thatching houses, and organic compost production. Vetiver has been traditionally incorporated in the cropping systems of the region. Vetiver has a variety of environmental applications such as soil erosion control, phytoremediation, carbon sequestration etc. which are reviewed. Large scale cultivation of vetiver for essential oil production was initiated by using improved agronomic and field distillation methods covering an area of 250 ha in coastal Karnataka, a Western Ghats region, India, a region characterized by tropical climate with a well defined rainy season. The soils of the region are lateritic, of low pH below 5.0, and low to medium in fertility. Cultivation by adopting improved agronomy and field distillation was successful. The field root yield was estimated at 2.5 t ha−1. The roots on steam distillation by conventional and improved methods produced 0.6–0.8 % and 1.0–1.2 % essential oil respectively. Fifty to seventy-five percent more net returns were obtained from improved agronomic and distillation methods in vetiver in comparison to traditional crops such as paddy, areca nut and cashew. This article shows that economic gains from vetiver oil production can help livelihoods of farmers while helping to maintain ecological sustainability in this region.
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We thank Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Bangalore, India for funding the research.
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Prakasa Rao, E.V.S., Akshata, S., Gopinath, C.T., Ravindra, N.S., Hebbar, A., Prasad, N. (2015). Vetiver Production for Small Farmers in India. In: Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Sustainable Agriculture Reviews. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16742-8_10
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