News 

Late last year, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with 4 others to judge video submissions for the Vetiver Network International's Short Video Competition. There were 34 submissions in total, from all around the world. It was a true pleasure, and a great way to see all of the amazing work that is being done with Vetiver Grass , a Climate Smart Technology. Cont... The categories were: Community, disaster mitigation, soil and water conservation, phytoremediation, agricu

The Huasteca Regenerative Research Center (HRRC) is located in an agricultural region dominated by a sugar cane monoculture. Failure to adopt soil preservation strategies has left farmers heavily dependent on chemical fertilizers to provide soil nitrogen. Experimentation at the center includes the introduction of plants that directly or indirectly fix nitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen fixing legumes including sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea) and pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan) grow well

Soil moisture readings at the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center (HRRC) show that the weekly flooding of swales is giving us desired soil moisture readings. The dry season is getting underway in the Huasteca region of East Central Mexico, and that usually leads to a progressive decline in soil moisture. Workers at the center pump water up from the nearby river and it flows through our recently installed water infrastructure to the level contoured swales and berms. Soil mo

Planting of the fourth experimental row of vetiver grass is well underway and this paves the way for the start of data collection early next year at the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center (HRRC) . In October and November, the first three of four vetiver rows were planted in support of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service grant undertaken with Terra Advocati and Texas State University . Data collected will support research on the effectiveness of vetiver rows in reducing

International collaborators Amanda and Sofia Lewis were welcomed by the local community at a congenial event held at the Huasteca Regenerative Research Center (HRRC) on 4 December. Amanda and Sofia Lewis are agriculture majors from Texas A&M university who were born in the community where the center is located. The event provided them with an opportunity to reconnect with their roots and show support for the center’s activities. About 70 rural community members were in atten