Vitver

about a material

1. It was another hot mid-day in 2009. The infamous loo was blowing in from the Thar desert across Delhi’s Rajpath . And a young girl walked past the black gates of THE NATIONAL MUSEUM in the blazing sun. And walked into the the coolness provided by one of mankind’s ealiest inventions. Across the imposing front doors of the National Museum of India, from the ceiling to the floor was this huge curtain of khus   fibre constantly kept moist by buckets of water being thrown on it. I donot know how many of you have had the good luck to smell the wonderful aroma of a khus curtain on a hot north indian day – it remains with me, so many years later.  This wood, vétiver , or more accurately, this root, with its legendary earthy, smoky aromas sometimes only comes through in the base notes, humbly emerging after the striking freshness of the top notes . Apart from these traditional shoes, another recent trend is an upshot of back-to-nature consciousness: slippers and sandals made with a variety of fibre as banana, arecanut , and ramacham or vetiver , more widely known as the fragrant khus-khus . This trend spurred-off a few years back when kora grass slippers, now popularly known as the chattai chappal , became a rage, having caught the fancy of an entire college-going generation. ATTRIBUTES TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN HOUSE USES Vetiver padding used in desert coolers and mats for cooling rooms emitting a cool and refreshning aroma. Acts as fire resistent amterial Acts as insect repellents LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS Slippers Foot mats Hand bags Natural room freshners Table mats Organic screen Laundary bag. INTRODUCTION Submitted by : Monisha pattnaik 2011JDS6009 IIT DELHI

2. FACTOR REQUIREMENTS Soil type Sandy loam is preferred. Clay loam is acceptable, but clay not. Topography Slightly sloping land avoids waterlogging in case of over watering. Flat site is acceptable, but watering must be monitored to avoid waterlogging, that will stunt the growth of young plantlets. Mature vetiver, however, thrives under waterlogged conditions. Nutrition Absorbs dissolved nutrients like N and P. Is tolerant to sodicity , magnesium , aluminium and manganese pH Accepts soil pH from 3.3 to 12.5 (in another publication it's 4.3-8.0 [3] ) soil conditions tolerant to salinity Heavy metals Absorbs dissolved heavy metals from polluted water. Is tolerant to As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Hg, Se and Zn. Light Shading affects vetiver growth ( C4 plant ), but partly shading is acceptable. Temperature tolerant to temperatures from -15 °C to +55°C, depending on growing region. 25°C is the optimal soil temperature for root growth. Root dormancy occurs under a temperature of 5°C. Shoot growth is affected earlier, at 13°C is only very little shoot growth, but root growth is continued at a rate of 12.6 cm/day. Under frosty conditions, shoots become dormant and purple, or even die, but the underground growing points survive and can re-grow quickly if the conditions become better. Water tolerant to drought (because of its deep roots), flood , submergence ; annual precipitation of 6.4 - 41.0 dm is tolerated, but it has to be at least 225 mm ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS Submitted by : Monisha pattnaik 2011JDS6009 IIT DELHI

3. HOW IT IS PROCESSED Submitted by : Monisha pattnaik 2011JDS6009 IIT DELHI