"Will the Westland still have horticulture in twenty years' time?"

Whilst the Netherlands might be the forerunner when it come to greenhouse techniques , the market situation is anything but next - level . Over the last couple of twelvemonth raiser blend in through hard times and specially the futurity of the Westland arena is facing challenges . lately former minister , but also farmer , prof and chairman of Coalitie HOT , the manufacture retrofitting committee , Cees Veerman gave a presentation on the hereafter of Westland greenhouse horticulture . " I ’m very concerned about whether the Westland still has gardening in twenty years ' time . "

" At the second , 50 % of Dutch greenhouse veggie troupe are unable to pay up their bills , with another 15 % having no money to invest in the troupe . If the sector does n’t vary , the stay 35 % will also work into problems . “These were our headline only four years ago . Dutch horticulture went through dark time , and adaption in the industry were needed . " Without change , it will only get bad " , McKinsey conclude .

Restructuring and modernisationDevelopment company HOT was established in 2015 to stimulate and facilitate the physical restructuring and modernisation of existing greenhouse gardening areas . Veerman is lead this Coalition , in which Rabobank , FloraHolland and FVO also participate , and authority are involved as well . However , as chairman he did not have satisfactory figure to present . More than 100 case have been investigated . Some twenty projects are ongoing and in the past class around 40 hectares have been purchase . Far too fiddling to achieve a restructuring , the former government minister also indicate . " There is a huge expect - and - see attitude in the sector . It is incredibly hard to buy land at a fair price . And these parcel are often not even linked together , so you could not extend them as one single parcel . Apparently , in gardening , in special in the nursery vegetables sphere , it is still give way too well . "

Hardly any fresh constructionNevertheless , according to Veerman , there is every reason for the gardening industry to occupy . Besides big players rolling out big greenhouses , just any Modern building has taken place over the past ten years . In addition , the pre-2000 greenhouses do not run into the requirements of the vigor conversion , which means that 300 hectare must be overhaul per annum to see the climate goals of 2040 . In the Westland , even 67 % of the nursery horticulture company are from before 2000 , and the land area of an average greenhouse is 2 - 5 hectares . Meanwhile , the increment in scale continues unabated and 75 % of entrepreneur in the Westland older than 55 have no heir . “All in all a huge problem . The money for restructuring is available , but you’re able to not make up more than the market terms , " Veerman go on . " And the consequences of this can be serious . Just suppose that new greenhouse horticulture locations are being released elsewhere , then this area will simply be reverse . And believe me , the intact Westland will be filled with other activities . But that will have enormous consequences for the area , because also trade and agro - logistics ship’s company are dependent on the production . “Coalitie HOT is now work according to the model which former raiser Gerrit Vreugdenhil used to use , who twenty years ago playact a critical role in the restructuring of the two Westland polder , namely the Noord Nieuwlandse Polder and Kreeklanden . His glide slope was as follows : Some secret counselor from the area direct the discussions and build trust . The implementation follows when there is a conjointly supported programme , only then the brokers get involved . The raging chair also realized that the approach now does not have the desired force yet . " But by pulling grass , it will not grow quicker . There are two country that have lost the warfare , Germany and Japan , that are now two economical superpower . By diligently using their hands and brains , they have built up their nation . In the Westland there also must be a collective urge to keep this area up and run . ”