HABTEMARIAM ABATE1 AND BELAY SIMANE2

Vetiver grass is a C4 perennial grass that fits well in ecosystem service model contributing to local and national economies for its multifarious environmental applications, and offers sustainable opportunities for carbon sequestration. Vetiver grass has been used for degraded land reclamation, erosion control and slope stabilization for centuries and its popularity has increased remarkably in the last decades in many parts of the world including Ethiopia. This is due to its unique morphological, physiological and ecological characteristics including its massive root system, tolerance to highly adverse growing conditions and tolerance to high levels of toxicities. Vetiver is a fast growing grass, and possesses some unique 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. It is also cost-effective and environment-friendly. Vetiver System (VS) involves the correct application of this unique grass in erosion and sediment control, land reclamation, rehabilitation and stabilization etc. Although Vetiver grass was first introduced to Ethiopia by Jimma Research Center in 1970, it was not widely disseminated until Sustainable Land Use Forum (SLUF) and its partners demonstrated it in