Preface

**Section 4 Applied Circumstance of Grass Categories 119**

Chapter 8 **Vetiver Grass: A Tool for Sustainable Agriculture 143** Suarau O. Oshunsanya and OrevaOghene Aliku

Chapter 7 **Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus) 121**

Miss Phool Shahzadi

**VI** Contents

Today, human beings have turned to the profound meaning of green areas in their lives, and it is clear that grasses are a symbol of life, and their importance corresponds to the earliest evidence of people on earth. Grasses have existed on the earth for much longer than people have, and human beings have been the fortunate member of this partnership. Savannah and Steppe form the largest natural grassy areas from different climate zones that are not suita‐ ble for forests. In addition, grasses create cultural landscapes, especially in Central Europe. They have arisen in a long process since the Ice Age, where forests have been transformed into meadows and pastures. Appropriately, the earth's first ages of grasses came even earli‐ er than the first age of the grazing animal. Indeed, the word 'graze' was derived from 'grass'. During Miocene times, believed to have begun some 30 million years ago, the fore‐ bears of grass came out of tropical forests and swamplands into the cooler and drier lands.

The aim of this book is to embody the essential components, the role and the function of grasses as natural material in our lives. The book will discuss the importance of using differ‐ ent species of grasses in landscape and medicine. The importance of the book is manifested by subject debates, which display multiple viewpoints on how grasses are used in general, and their impact on our lives in particular. The book is divided into four parts and eight chapters.

Section 1, 'Overview on Grass Topic', is an introductory section, which presents a snapshot of the topic through a general reading.

Section 2, 'Grasses in a Complex Agronomic Process: The Benefit and Importance', is divid‐ ed into two chapters: the first, 'Analytical Interpretation of the Beneficial Interaction Be‐ tween Microorganisms and Grasses', debates the meaning, benefit and importance of soil microorganisms, the mechanisms of growth promotion of grasses and the main mechanisms of growth promotion of grasses by soil microorganisms. The second chapter, 'Importance of Grass Carp (*Ctenopharyngodon idella*) for Controlling of Aquatic Vegetation', debates the con‐ cept of aquatic plants, where grass carp becomes a tool to control aquatic vegetation. This chapter aims to analyse the use of grass carp to control aquatic vegetation.

Section 3, 'Different Grass Species from Diverse World Regions', is divided into three chap‐ ters. The first chapter, 'Study of Some North African Grasses (*Ampelodesma mauritanica* and Esparto Grass)', discusses the subject of *Ampelodesma mauritanica*, which is a plant of the family Poaceae from northern and southern Africa. Esparto grass is another topic of this chapter; both are cellulose-based fibres extracted using a basic procedure to remove noncel‐ lulosic substances such as pectin, lignin and hemicelluloses. The authors attempt to charac‐ terise the Esparto grass fibre obtained from chemical extraction using sodium hydroxide followed by sodium hypochlorite as a bleaching agent. The second chapter, 'Endemic Spe‐ cies of the Family Poaceae in Chile: Taxonomy, Distribution and Conservation', explains how endemic species with a geographic distribution are restricted to a single area and could be especially vulnerable. The third chapter, 'Beyond Turf and Lawn: Poaceae in This Age of Climate Change', debates the traditional uses of Poaceae in various cultures, where many unrealized needs for food, medicine and other material goods could be met elsewhere with knowledge transfer.

Section 4, 'Applied Circumstance of Grass Categories', is divided into two chapters. The first, 'Lemon Grass (*Cymbopogon citratus*)', debates lemongrass citral, which is an essential oil with therapeutic and many other useful effects. The second, 'Vetiver Grass: A Tool for Sus‐ tainable Agriculture', debates several applications of vetiver grass, its impacts and resultant benefits as a technology that could enhance sustainable agricultural development. Soil con‐ servation, amendment and stabilisation are the main areas discussed in this chapter, along with crop productivity.

Many propositions, items and significant factors are combined in this book. A current objec‐ tive of our world is to make the use of green areas more practical and environmentally friendly. Today, the practice is to establish a competent way to use grasses in their original form, starting from their use as food or medical matter to an efficient establishment of grasses in biophilic design in our architectural and city arrangements. This book makes available the theoretical basis and practical application of how a broad usage of grasses can be replicated in our life based on practical ways to give worked-out examples of such prob‐ lems regarding applied usage. I must acknowledge that it has been a rare pleasure for me to be an editor associated with InTechOpen Publisher. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Maja Bozicevic, InTech's Publishing Process Manager, and I shall avail this chance to extend my sincere gratitude for her help and cooperation at various phases of the publication process, as well as the researchers who performed experiments and reported their findings.

> **Associate Professor Dr. Arch. Amjad Almusaed** University of Basra Basra, Iraq

**Section 1**

**Overview on Grass Topic**

**Assistant Professor Sammera Mohamed Salih Al-Samaraee** University of Basra Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture Basra, Iraq
