Vetiver Nepal – Revenue Prospects for the enterprise as well as the Nation.

Vetiver Nepal is working on a niche phenomenon for national development with a two-pronged approach. One is that of an enterprise model and the other is as that of serving as a facilitator with compensation for its expertise and services.

While we have delved at length here below on the role as facilitators for overall national development, it may suffice to briefly mention the envision on the enterprise model.

We have a standing offer to export as much Vetiver oil as possible on the commodity market price in the international arena. With our envision to scale up plantations, we can contribute with maximum foreign exchange earnings from this essential oil which is priced in the range of 250 to 300 USD per litre, making it one of the most expensive oil.

Besides export of oil, Vetiver Nepal accrues revenue from various applications including slope protection. We are doing a remarkable work in Fast Track Highway. While this is an example, there are a series of revenue windows for us.

Vetiver Nepal is working on a broad gamut of attributes that spans across domains. It addresses macro as well as micro aspirations of the nation and each citizen, respectively. It considers sustainable and inclusive development necessary for holistic growth of the nation.

Comprehending “Ecosystem based Adaptation” (EBA) holds the key to the holistic development of a nation. For us in Nepal, this is very pertinent. It can be understood as interactions that connect several approaches to addressing climate change adaptation, biodiversity & ecosystem conservation, & socioeconomic development with people being at the centre of the approach. For the vulnerable communities, it assumes even larger significance.

Vetiver, a perennial C4 grass is known for its capability as a sustainable agriculture tool along with being a bioengineering marvel. It impacts all the 17 SDGs in Nepal. The initiative covers diverse need-based arenas as critical as Soil and Water Conservation, Disaster Mitigation, Wasteland Reclamation, Groundwater Recharge, Carbon Sequestration, Phytoremediation of abandoned mines, quarries etc, Substitution of Fossil Fuel with Green Energy, Landfills, Leachates, and many more.

Most of the critical issues as challenging as poverty, climate, hunger, unemployment in Nepal can be addressed with Vetiver which is not just a grass but, it’s a technology. It is a C4 perennial grass that fits well in ecosystem service model contributing to multifarious environmental applications, and offers sustainable opportunities for carbon sequestration as well.

Vetiver has unique morphological, physiological and ecological characteristics including its massive root system, tolerance to highly adverse growing conditions and to high levels of toxicities. As a fast growing grass, it possesses some features of both grasses and trees by having profusely grown, deep penetrating root system that can offer both erosion prevention and control of shallow movement of surface earth mass.

On the poverty alleviation side, the farmers can bid adieu to the less revenue-accruing traditional crops and plant Vetiver as a livelihood measure which would fetch them several times more of revenue – a buy back arrangement with institutional tie-up is being worked out by him. This will enable a large number of farmers come out of misery. There are several farmers whose lands got swept away by devastating rivers or landslides turning those into wastelands which can be averted by application of Vetiver.

Vetiver can usher-in security for the nation across all the following attributes if the wastelands in the country which are absolutely redundant today, could be put to its plantation. Food, Jobs, Energy, Climate, Economic rewards, et al, can be available to the nation.

The mission that has been beckoning us all along is that of – “Rashtra Nirman” – wherein core competencies in the nation are duly harnessed and each household is able to live a fulfilling life with dignity and peace of mind, with empowerment coming to each door. We are envisioning an inclusive society where no one is left behind in the march for development and where each sustainable development goal is duly met.

With commitment and sincerity it is absolutely possible. Each arena offers a world of space for enhancement and correction.

We shall discuss varied aspects in a subsequent discussion- for now, let us just cite one example of an initiative which can bring about a literal revolution in our socio-economic space.

The example we are taking is that of wastelands in the country which exceeds 5 lac hectares!

The nation knows that these wastelands hitherto have not been contributing in any measure to the nation’s socio-economic space and has instead been a burden.

With scientific initiative we can transform the wastelands into fertile lands in due course and at the same time reap additional benefits such as earning of carbon credits with our farming models helping sequester carbon on one hand and mitigating risk and threat of floods and landslides on the other, inter alia. Initially there will be plantations primarily of such species which are strong on nitrogen. The wastelands need such species. There are examples galore like Vetiver, Moringa, Bamboo, Legumes and many more species.

Vetiver is one example of a plant which goes several meters below the surface that it works as a rigorous reviving agent in the entire plantations area. The soil gets enriched beyond comprehension. With one crop of Vetiver the hitherto wastelands shall be good for multiple crops and it will be absolutely alright to go in for “Permaculture”, (perma+culture) which means permanent agriculture. In this model of faming multiple crops/species are done in different layers, including a few layers at varying depths underneath. In our country where per capita arable lands are very scarce with miserably marginal land holdings, thid model of multi-layer farming comes truly handy as tge same area of given land is able to provide many times more of yield. In essence, it works as a multiplier in terms of practically available area for agriculture which herein assumes a broader connotation as that of agro-forestry since there is an in-tandem promotion of agriculture, horticulture and forestry, et al along with dairy farming which helps these lands with manure from cows and buffaloes for further enriching the soil.

In this model of permaculture i.e, multi layer farming, one specie becomes a support for the other. We may call it complimentary to one another.

Let us see here below as to what kind of a reprieve hitherto redundant wastelands can offer.

1. Food Security: As of now our shortfall of food-grains is around 4 million tons per year. This will all be available from this pool of lands leaving a huge surplus for exports.
2. Job Security: The nation can create enough jobs for the unemployed as well as the entire youth working overseas. If both these sum up to 30 lacs as well, the entire need can be met from this pool of lands. It is dynamic and scalable in the sense that if even 40 lac jobs need to be created, that or more is also possible as much. It is scalable even higher as need be. This possibility emanates from the fact that the same given land area now has multiple species under plantation which provides increased work opportunity.
3. Energy Security: Today our country imports fossil fuel (petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, LPG etc) equivalent to an annual value of 25000 to 30000 crore rupees which drives our balance of trade towards a hugely negative poise. This is by far the largest import commodity. The curse is 2 fold. It is not just about the huge forex exodus but also about the main cause of carbon emission. We have an approximate carbon emission of 8 million tons  (80 lac tons) a year which is causing us a huge detriment on the climate front.

In order to get over both these impediments in one stroke we can produce large amount of biomass  which would help us convert it into biogas and thereafter into bio CNG as a renewable and green energy solution besides going about the option of producing electricity from biogas. There are many other bio-energy options available to us.

This will help us turn into a carbon-negative nation and thereby unleash a host of benefits from development agencies and UN missions, among others.

4 Captive Raw Materials for Manufacturing: The pool of lands in discussion here hold huge capacity to cater to the basic raw material need and sustain the agro and forest based industries like paper, sugar, biogas, plywood, bio-briquettes  and many more. There is large import of paper, sugar, plywood etc causing a huge exodus of foreign exchange which will be conserved and this will provide additional employment opportunities and add to the economic resurgence of the nation.

5 Harnessing of Export Potentials in Core Competency Areas: There are huge opportunities in select areas like herbs farming, processing and exports thereof. Our soil that is globally known to be richly endowed for herbs provides us a huge opportunity in this  area to benefit by pursuing this strongly, and developing a multi national edifice that could leverage the perception about the Himalayan bounty in this coveted area.

6 Overall Socio-Economic Development: The benefits accruing from the few mentioned avenues here above are in fact not all. These are the basic areas though. When economic activities take place in a holistic dispensation, there is a multiplier effect that emerges.

7 Mitigation of Risks from Floods and Landslides:

We have drawn  up a resolute plan whereby we shall provide all the help including cost free Vetiver plants to farmers on the river banks  who are prone to Floods and to the farmers in hills who confront the risk of landslide.

In 2 years time we shall produce 250 million plants based on our facilities from the pilot now, which can be scaled up to a much larger size. Vetiver is the best known bio engineering tool to not only protect lands from devastation, it also helps reclaim lands devastated by rivers.

In nutshell, when this solitary phenomena as that of putting to use the wastelands alone can beckon a huge transformation, imagine in what proportions development can be ushered in when there is correction undertaken across multiple arenas.

We welcome fair inputs and an honest initiative on the part of the government to improve upon this fundamental envision and take it forward toward contributing substantially in poverty alleviation and socio-economic transformation.

We have already got a pilot in place near Dhankaul Sugar Mills in Sarlahi and are adding more.