Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn opens the Vetiver Grass Demonstration Center in Chittagong, Bangladesh
On 30 May 2018, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn proceeded to open the Vetiver Grass Demonstration Center in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The center was established by the collaboration between the Chaipattana Foundation and the municipality of Chittagong. The objectives of this center are to demonstrate and teach how to grow vetiver grass based on the academic principles while suitable to the different areas, to promote and propagate the knowledge about the vetiver grass, which is very helpful to prevent and solve the problems of landslides in different areas, and to enhance the soil quality so that it is ready for cultivation to solve the landslide problems in different areas.
Earlier, the Royal Embassy of Thailand in Dhaka, Bangladesh had asked for assistance from the Chaipattana Foundation to establish the collaborative project on the cultivation of vetiver grass with an aim to prevent the landslides in Bangladesh. After that, the Chaipattana Foundation sent for some experts and its officials to survey the target area and collect the data on problems there. Finally, the said Vetiver Grass Demonstration Center has been established, and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn gave the vetiver grass breed to the center for further cultivation.
Once arriving at Vetiver Grass Demonstration Center, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn attended the opening ceremony and listened to the report on the background the center. In this event HRH was warmly welcomed by the following key authorities, i.e. Ms. Panpimon Suwannapongse, Ambassador of Thailand to Bangladesh, Mr. Lalit Thanomsing, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chaipattana Foundation, Mr. J M Nasir Uddin, Mayor of Chittagong City, and Mr. Abdullah Mohsin Chowduri, Secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Bangladesh.
After that, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visited and observed the exhibition of Vetiver Grass Demonstration Center. The contents in this exhibition are about the topography and the problems of landslides in Bangladesh, general information about vetiver grass, royal initiatives about vetiver grass of King Rama IX, advantages of vetiver grass and its cultivation in other countries, application of vetiver grass in handicraft products, and the operations concerning the establishment of this center.
In this occasion, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn observed the vetiver grass demonstration plot which was aimed to demonstrate the cultivation of this grass in order to prevent the landslides in both plain and slope areas. Then HRH grew the local vetiver grass on the slope area of this demonstration plot and presided over the opening ceremony of Vetiver Grass Demonstration Center in Chittagong, Bangladesh.