**1. Introduction**

Soil is an integral part of the environment that is involved in many ecosystem services. However, decline in the actual and/or potential productivity of soils due to poor land management practices has become a major challenge to sustainable agriculture and environmental quality [1], thus threatening the food security of many countries of the world. According to Truong [2], some of these poor land management practices often lead to soil erosion and

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agro-chemical contamination from agricultural practices, urban wastes and industrial operations, which adversely reduces soil's potential for sustainable food production, consequently affecting plants, animals and human lives.

In Truong [2], soil conservation methods such as contour banks, earthen bunds and concrete structures employed to rehabilitate lands with low soil quality are expensive, short-lived and sometimes impossible to execute. He finally reported that vegetative methods, such as the use of grasses, are an effective erosion and sediment control technology which are practicable and economical for the rehabilitation of lands for agricultural production. Vetiver grass (*Vetiveria zizanioides* L.) has been reported to be effective in erosion control [3] and remediation of contaminated soils [4]. According to Rao [5], due to their efficiency and low-cost, vetiver systems are more profitable than both engineering structures and other vegetative barriers. In Ref. [6], vetiver was reported to be highly tolerant to extreme soil conditions including heavy metal contaminations. In comparison with other grasses for rehabilitation of lands with adverse soil conditions, vetiver grass was reported to be superior to Bermuda grass (*Cynodon dactylon*) which has been recommended as a suitable species for acid mine rehabilitation [7]. Also, in an attempt to revegetate a highly saline land, Truong [8] reported superior performance of vetiver grass over Rhodes (*Chloris guyana*) and saltwater couch (*Paspalum vaginatum*), as it was able to survive and resume growth under very high saline conditions. This is due to its unique morphological and physiological characteristics which enables it to survive where other plants cannot [9].

**Figure 1.** Vetiver (*Vetiveria zizanioides* L.) grass strips at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Ethiopia Guatemala Japan Jamaica Tonga

Ghana Honduras Nepal Puerto Rico Kenya Paraguay Pakistan St. Lucia Madagascar Suriname Philippines St. Vincent Malawi Singapore Trinidad Mauritius Sri Lanka Virgin Islands

Nigeria Thailand

Rwanda Reunion Seychelles Somalia

Gabon Guyana Malaysia Martinique Western Samoa

**Africa America Asia Caribbean Pacific Others** Algeria Argentina Bangladesh Antigua American Samoa France Angola Brazil Burma Barbados Cook Islands Italy Burundi Colombia China Cuba Fiji Spain Comoro Costa Rica India DR New Caledonia USA CAR FG Indonesia Haiti New Guinea USSR

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