Evaluation of Vetiver Grass (Vetiver zizanodes) Potential to Soil Erosion Control at Assosa, Benishangul Gumuz, Ethiopia

Vetiver occurs in many countries throughout the world and used as biological soil and water conservation measure. It is introduced to Ethiopia in the 1960’s. this experiment was initiated with the aim of evaluating the soil conservation potential of vetiver grass hedges in Benishangul gumuz region of Assosa zone (Assosa district of Komeshiga-28 for two consecutive research years (2013/14-2014/15) on farm land. The site was selected purposively based on the its slope and severity to soil erosion. Biophysical of the experiment and socio -economic data is of participant farmers were collected to evaluate the impact of the study. The potential of vetiver grass to conserve the soil were evaluated by using the pins installed at the upper, middle and lower part of the hedgerows to determine the rate of soil erosion and deposition. A total of 17HHs were sampled to assess the perception, acceptance and adoption level of the farmers using simple random sampling technique. The result indicated the pin height reduction from the initial height of 35cm by the mean value of 8cm, 6cm and 5.3cm for the pin installed at the upper, middle and lower part of the hedge rows within two consecutive research year.