Community Based Vetiver Propagation Programme

It was estimated that the erosion control and vegetation reinstatement programme as a whole  would require about two million Vetiver plants and Hydromulch, in conjunction with QMM Environmental, initiated a Vetiver sourcing and growing programme utilising family groups in neighbouring communities. Nöffke commented that fifteen communities were approached initially during December 2006 and this had expanded to 35 by August 2008.

Vetiver plants are abundant in Madagascar and are found growing along the perimeters of fields and rice paddies and in rural pasturelands, where it is reputed that they were originally imported and planted by missionaries and latterly farmers, for erosion control.

Nöffke has seen plants with clump sizes that indicate they could be over 60 years in age.

He commented that another use made of the young Vetiver plants was as grazing for domestic animals – the juvenile plants are palatable. He made the point that no Vetiver plants were imported into the country for the project.

Some of the families involved in the project sourced parent material from their farming locations close to the rehabilitation sites and were paid for the material, while others were given slips of the parent material to grow on in community nurseries of their own making.

Hydromulch briefed the villagers on the correct cropping and trimming procedures and demonstrated sustainable harvesting methods – removing material without damaging the parent plant. They were also encouraged to identify and collect viable strong material and often travelled great distances to source suitable material.

Potting bags and Vetiver planting material in the form of slips were delivered to the communities that had chosen the propagation route. The growers filled the bags with a suitable growing medium and planted the slips. Open ground nurseries were also encouraged, so that the growers could establish a stock for future demand. Along with the potting bags, the growers received fertiliser sticks, spades, rakes, plastic watering cans and wheelbarrows. The families were paid for the initial planting process, with a second payment being made once the plants were satisfactorily established with well-developed root systems.

According to Nöffke, establishment takes between three and six weeks during which time regular watering is needed. The communities selected for the propagation process were close to reliable water sources. Some communities are involved in the post-establishment maintenance of the plants and are being paid accordingly.

Once established, the plants were collected by Hydromulch ready for planting out into the harsh roadside environment.

The communities or families in the various villages are subsistence farmers that grow mainly rice, while those on the coast are fishermen. In the Mangaiky Village, ‘Andre’s community’ has propagated over 230 000 Vetiver plants to date and, in the same village, the Auguste family has propagated in excess of 250 000 plants.

In the Mangarivotra Village, the ‘Antahova Community’ will soon reach their target of 80 000 plants, while Maria Agnes’s family from the Mandromdromotra Village has grown 100 000 plants. These are some of the 35 groups involved in this programme, supplying the on-site holding nursery with stock. A total of in excess of two million Vetiver plants has been used for erosion control on the project. The community based programme has already generated in excess of US$ 150 000 for the respective communities, during the construction phase of the Ilmenite Project.

The local farmers have invested their returns in buildings and stock. Farmer Auguste built a large robust house with the income his family received, while Madame Marie Agnes built a secure house for herself and her grandchildren from the income generated through Vetiver propagation.

Andre David Mahalogny from the Mangaiky district bought six Zebu cattle with the proceeds generated by his family’s Vetiver nursery. With the money he earned, Farmer Arthur carried out the traditional restitution ceremony at his father’s grave, while Farmer ‘Jonesey’ is educating his children with the payment received for the 240 000 Vetiver plants grown by his family.