A new Vetiver grass nursery that aims to help communities against riverbank and shoreline erosion was officially commissioned by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in Labasa this afternoon.

Communities in Vanua Levu exposed to constant riverbank erosion now have a solution.

A new Vetiver grass nursery that aims to help communities against riverbank and shoreline erosion was officially commissioned by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in Labasa this afternoon.

Bainimarama says the nursery will consistently grow high-quality Vetiver grass planting slips, creating a sustainable cycle of resilience-building that will help adapt the North to climate impacts.

Vetiver produces a massive root system that grows straight down and creates a sort of curtain beneath the soil, trapping sediment and slowing down the movement of water.

Bainimarama says across Fiji, newly planted fields of Vetiver grass are already starving off floodwaters in more than 30 communities.

$US200, 000 was invested by the Republic of Korea towards the nursery.

The nursery in Labasa is the third to be set up by the Ministry of Waterways. Two others, one in Nadi and one in Nausori were opened earlier this year.