According to His Majesty the King's Royal Initiative, the main purpose of vetiver grass cultivation is to conserve soil and water, particularty for the steep slopy areas. In spite of the effort, some farmers are still reluctant to accept its valuable attributes because cultivation of vetiver in agricultural areas in order to conserve soil and water does not produce tangible benefits in terms of revenue. Actually, vetiver leaves and roots can be used for other purposes especially its leaves, which usually have to be cut to keep the vetiver rows in order and can be used for roofing as well as making handicraft products to gain extra income.

Use of vetiver leaves for handicraft weaving products

       The vetiver species, the leaves of which are suitable for making handicraft products, is the Vetiveria zizanioides Nash with ecotypes like Sri Lanka, Kamphaeng Phet 2, Surat Thani, Songkhla 3 etc. This species has long and waxy leaves which soften when they are wet. They are thus suitable for making handicraft products.
       Handicraft items which can be made from vetiver leaves include weaving products which are popular and serve various purposes such as :

• basketry and kitchen utensils
• home decoration items
• accessories
• office supplies

       Preparing the vetiver-leave material can be done using the traditional simple and convenient sun-dry menthod. For a faster drying, vetiver leaves should be placed on a raised screen, thus allowing both sides of the leaves to dry within 3-6 days after which the dried leaves need to be soaked in water or to make them soften appropriate for weaving, and to avoid hand-wounding while weaving.

Handicraft weaving products made of vetiver leaves

• basketry and kitchen utensils such as basket, flat basket, winnowing basket and different types of tray
• home decoration items such as wall clock, picture frame, lampshade, display item, flower
• accessories such as lady's bag, hat, belt, brooch
• other products such as folder, diary cover

       The aromatic vetiver roots are used for making fans, cloth hangers or are mixed with other dried flowers and leaves to make pot-pourri.

Use of vetiver culm and leaves for mushroom culture

       More precisely, vetiver culms and leaves contain chemical compounds like cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and crude protein as well as various minerals with certain bacteria that can be grown under fermentation processes. So they can be beneficially used as the planting material suited for mushroom culture. This is provided by cutting culms and leaves of the grass into small pieces at a size of 1-1.5 inches, soaking them in water and fermenting them for 3-4 days. Then the material is packed in a sterilized bag after which it is accordingly inoculated with mushroom spawn under the mushroom spawn preparation procedure. Most economically popular mushrooms grown well on the vetiver planting material are oyster mushroom, Bhutan mushroom, angel mushroom, abalone mushroom, and Chinese mushroom.

Use of vetiver culms and leaves for roof material

       As practiced, Thai people have been recognized using vetiver culms and leaves in the same manner as nipa palm leaves for making and maintaining roof covering for a long time, prior to the use of commonly found Imperata cyclindrica Beauv. (Laa Laang) cogon grass.
       In using vetiver grass best suited for efficient roof material, it should be selected from healthy culms and more than one year of age. The color of leaves should be turning from green to yellow, but should not be completely dried yet. Normally, the harvest of leaves is usually done during January and February by cutting about one-hand palm or less in length above the ground.  Then  comb  off  the short or broken leaves, dry in the sun, and tie up as a bundle called "kon" with about 3 handful bunches which can produce 5 to 7 vetiver-thatch sets. To make vetiver thatch set, it requires binding axle, using a strip of bamboos or a thornless-type of bamboos to function as the grass-bunch binding structure. In binding each grass-bunch into the axle, 5-6 grass culms with 12-16 leaves are required. This grass-bunch is to be folded at a length of 1/3 placing culms being the shorter side and grass leaves being the longer side. Then the bunch needs to be fastened firmly to the axle structure with vines, bamboo wicker's -bar ropes, or other binding materials to complete the thatch set. One vetiver-thatch set with 120-170 cm. long will require approximately 150 bunches of culms and leaves consisting of 750-900 tillers.
       In roof operating, it is important that the culm (shorter side) with each set of the thatch is to be placed against the roof structure, while the leave (longer side) being the upper side. Then the connecting points need to be laid accordingly from lower levels up to the top end of roof structure.
       It appears that vetiver grass produces a higher-quality roof material than Imperata cylindrica Beauv. (Laa Laang). This is because the vetiver culms and leaves coated with wax with a unique scent, and not being susceptible to insect pests. Life expectancy of the vetiver material depends on neatness in the nature of thatch making. A thatch set with more culms and leaves or denser grass will be more durable. Also, the nature of roof in which the thatch sets are being laid is another matter. A good example of this is the use of vetiver thatch sets for a particular traditional Thai-style house with a steep sloping roof which can be much more durable than that for a flat roof house.

Use of vetiver culms and leaves for making compost and mulching

       Periodically cuttings of vetiver culms and leaves to enhance better tillage regime or to prevent them from flowering can be used as a suitable compost raw material alike other crop residues. The process of decomposition of the culms and leaves will be completed within 60-120 days. Then, it will become soft, friable, and dark brown to black color of vetiver compost. There is an indication from soil analysis data that one metric ton of compost made from vetiver clumps and leaves is equivalent to 43 kg of ammonium sulfate. Increasingly, there is the trend toward significant available mineral nutrients in vetiver compost especially nitrogen (0.86%), phosphorus (0.29%), potassium (1.12%), calcium (0.55%), and magnesium (0.41%) with a neutral pH of 7.0. In addition, it is recognized that more frequently cuttings of its culms and leaves can provide suitable materials for mulching to increase soil moisture-holding capacity, and provide humic acid that contributes to improved soil fertility.

Use of vetiver materials for making green fuel

       Vetiver grass litter or lopping as well as root residues can be used as beneficial vetiver by-product materials best suited with proportional water-hyacinth crop mixes to serve as a high-quality source of green fuel. This type of fuel is provided by the use of a 3:2 proportion compressed fuel shaft process through a 1.7 cm. diameter cylindrical compression squeezed equipment. The system model is proven to be practical in supplying a high-temperature value and burning-quality of green fuel with little smoke. For example, it takes 5 minutes to boil 1 liter of water, while the fuel still keeps on burning up to 28 minutes.

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