The Netherlands is hoping to increase its horticulture partnerships in other regions of the world.
The Netherlands is hoping to increase its horticulture partnerships in other regions of the world.
 |
| A new Wageningen greenhouse design that will heat water for storage Advertisement
|
The Dutch have long been regarded as master marketers and production
pioneers in the greenhouse sector, and world leaders in sales and
technology. Canadian growers are keen customers and students of that
expertise and experience, incorporating the latest advances from the
Netherlands.
Dutch officials are now stepping up efforts to showcase their industry,
and develop closer working relationships with growers throughout the
world. We were invited to participate in a weeklong study tour of
horticulture in the Netherlands, hosted by the Netherlands Ministry of
Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The focus was the Horti Fair
trade show, held in Amsterdam in mid-October each year. Other countries
represented on the tour included India, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Thailand,
Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and South
Africa.
TOUR INTRODUCTION
Roel Bol is director of Trade and Industry with the Netherlands
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. He emphasized the
trading history of the Netherlands, a country of 16.5 million people
with a gross national product of some 525 billion euros ($815 billion
Cdn).
The domestic agricultural technology industry is fully developed, and
is stepping up efforts to develop partnerships with other countries.
“Except for glasshouses, our growing season is limited. We want to
invest with our partners.”
Such partnerships, he emphasized, must be “win-win” situations and
would include the transfer of Dutch technology and innovation. This
would help growers throughout the world add value to their products. A
“Triple-P” decision-making model would focus on people, the planet, and
on profits. “There should be only winners with our partnerships.”
New technologies are being developed at a rapid pace, and the Netherlands is eager to invest that technology in other regions.
Horticulture is a major industry in the Netherlands. One out of every
three trucks on the country’s roads are carrying flower and food
products; one in 10 is transporting ornamentals. Agricultural exports
represent 20 per cent of total exports. Its leading export is cut
flowers ($3.1 billion, representing 84 per cent of the world market).
Flower bulbs are number two ($892 million, and 83 per cent of the world
market).
The Netherlands has always been a major international trading nation,
and that tradition is being advanced through its “Small Country, Great
Partner” marketing initiative.
 |
|
| NAKTUINBOUW – N.C. A. (Nico) Koomen, director of the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture in Roelofarendsveen, describes germination testing procedures. There are 100 seeds per container. |
|
 |
|
| NAKTUINBOUW – Tomato trials in one of the older greenhouses at the Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture. |
NAKTUINBOUW
The Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture, known as
Naktuinbouw, promotes and monitors the quality of products, processes
and chains in horticulture, focusing particularly on propagation
material, both domestic and international. It is located in
Roelofarendsveen, and covers the complete spectrum of Dutch
horticulture, with the exception of flowering bulbs.
Director Nico Koomen was our tour host. He noted the program was
initiated in 1941, not by government, but by growers who saw the
importance of quality control standards. “This quality assurance focus
is one of the reasons for the strength of the Dutch agriculture
industry,” said Koomen.
Quality assurance means trucks can travel freely throughout the European Union.
Naktuinbouw also provides crop diagnostic services. “Growers can send
in samples of diseased plants,” said Koomen. “It’s so important to get
a quick diagnosis.”
Additional greenhouses were constructed in 2007. Divided into 18 trials section, the new complex covers 1,800 square metres.
 |
|
| HALUCO – Haluco BV makes extensive use of automated chain conveyor lines. | |
 |
|
| HALUCO – Haluco commercial director Johan Hensen, with some of the company’s product line. |
HALUCO
Haluco BV has one of the country’s most automated packing facilities.
The company was launched in 1972 following the merger of two
family-owned companies – Havenaar and Van der Lugt. It is a marketing
organization for affiliated growers at home and abroad, noted
commercial director Johan Hensen.
He explained that 75 per cent of greenhouse vegetables grown in the
Netherlands are exported, primarily throughout Western Europe, with
some sales into the U.S. New markets are being developed in Armenia,
Bosnia and the Ukraine, among other countries.
Orders received by 8 a.m. are shipped by 8 p.m. that same day. Supermarkets expect same-day service, Hensen explained.
One of their major sources of greenhouse produce is the Best Growers
Benelux (BGB), a co-operative of 70 growers with 300 hectares. Other
supplies come from Spain, the Canary Islands (220 hectares under
glass), and Israel.
Energy is the key challenge. Increasingly, growers are tapping
alternative energy sources or technologies, Hensen explained. “The
question is, how can we bring our energy expenses down?”
Food miles will become an issue with consumers over the next five to 10
years, said Hensen. As another trend, he said that organic produce
often receives double the price of regular fruits and vegetables.
The Haluco warehouse is two years old. Its unique heating system
includes an aquifer from which warm water is drawn in the winter, and
cool water in the summer. Solar collectors on the roof are used to heat
water, resulting in significant energy savings.
The building is 11,700 square metres. However, Hensen notes that
without the many automated systems, the company would have had to build
a facility about twice that size to handle its volumes.
It has storage capacity of 1,800 pallets linked to a high-tech internal
transport system that includes five cranes, one for each compartment,
and automated chain conveyor lines. Pallet bar codes that store product
and client specifications. The system is among the first of its kind in
Europe.
 |
|
| The Tommies snack line was displayed at Tomato World | |
 |
|
| TOMATO WORLD – A new crop of clusters is off to a good start. |
|
 |
|
| TOMATO WORLD – Some of the 60 tomato varieties being grown at Tomato World, prominently displayed in the education centre. |
TOMATO WORLD
The name says it all. Everything you ever wanted to know about
greenhouse tomatoes – and more – is displayed within this innovative
1,500-square-metre facility in Honselerdijk. It’s a fully functioning,
production-style greenhouse featuring some 50 varieties and a number of
different growing techniques, but it’s primarily an industry showcase
of marketing ideas and trends.
Tomato World is the brainchild of longtime grower Jos van Mil. He
initially developed plans for the project with his four colleagues from
the grower group, Greenco. It has grown to include 40 leading companies
in the sector, all displaying their latest varieties and technologies.
Eight seed companies are involved.
A major focus is industry education. Tomato World hosts visits by
growers and their customers, retail employees working in produce
departments, and consumers. Among recent visitors was a delegation from
the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.
“We cover the entire chain,” said van Mil, “to show how we produce a very pure product, from propagation to retail.”
It’s also hoped Tomato World will inspire more young people to consider careers in horticulture.
 |
|
| DE RUITER – The De Ruiter Seeds booth at Horti Fair was always busy. |
De RUITER SEEDS
De Ruiter Seeds is a leading breeder of hybrid vegetable seeds for
the tomato, cucumber, eggplant, sweet pepper, melon and rootstock
sectors.
Hosting the visit – due to product purity protocols, no tour of the
actual breeding facilities was possible – were corporate sales director
Martin van der Voort and communications manager Marleen van Balkom.
De Ruiter Seeds was founded in Bleiswijk in July of 1945 by Wouter De
Ruiter. He began with seed potatoes, among other crops, before
expanding to breed and produce seeds himself.
Among early breeding milestones for the company was the cucumber
variety ‘Sporu,’ which was immune to spot virus. Soon after, it
developed the ‘Sonato’ tomato variety that was resistant to the tobacco
mosaic virus. The company expanded into peppers and eggplants in the
1980s, and into rootstock in the 1990s. Numerous other innovations have
followed over the years.
The company’s head offices in Bergschenhoek include seven hectares of greenhouse space available for breeding.
De Ruiter Seeds was acquired by Monsanto in 2008, and became Monsanto’s
“centre of excellence” for vegetable seeds in protected cultures.
De Ruiter has some 1,000 employees in 14 countries, with research and
development carried out in four countries. It has production facilities
in five countries.
“We have to respond quickly to market conditions,” said van der Voort.
“Any new development takes four to five years before it’s ready to be
introduced as a new commercial variety.”
The company has an extensive seed quality testing system. A healthy
crop begins with top-quality seeds, said Van der Voort. “The increased
scale in glass horticulture worldwide and the increasingly stringent
requirements in the food chain ensure that the health of products, from
seed to shelf, is becoming even more important.”
And Van Balkom adds to that: “When it comes to seed health, we want to
be the best in the class. We aim to be the supplier of clean seed. In
order to deliver on that ambition, thorough measures are needed, such
as a strict phytosanitary policy, as well as the development of better
diagnostics and disinfectant methods. When it comes to purity, the
emphasis is on investment in technology. Each batch of seeds is
bar-coded, from each batch we keep a sample for ourselves, this all in
order to track eventual imperfections and to guarantee that the seed we
deliver is safe seed.”
 |
|
| AALSMEER AUCTION – Aalsmeer Flower Auction hosts a Market Expo during Horti Fair. Some 500 booths displayed a variety of new products and retail concepts. | |
 |
|
| AALSMEER AUCTION – And you think supermarket aisles are chaotic! Motorized VBA drivers make it look easy in picking up and delivering auction purchases to brokers, and doing so at remarkable speeds. |
|
 |
|
| AALSMEER AUCTION – Aalsmeer Flower Auction features five auction halls and 14 clocks. |
AALSMEER AUCTION
Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer is the world’s largest flower auction, as
confirmed by the Guiness World Records people. The auction building
component is the largest single trading facility in the world in terms
of floorspace, covering 1.25 million square metres (about 309 acres).
It has 523 loading docks for trucks.
Featuring five auction rooms and 14 clocks, it handles an average of
39,995 clock transactions each day. It has over four million stacking
carts and Danish containers in circulation.
The top 10 cut flowers sold by FloraHolland – Aalsmeer is one of six
FloraHolland auctions – in 2008 included (in order), roses, spray mums,
tulips, lilies, gerbera, cymbidium, disbudded mums, freesia, anthurium
and amaryllis. The top 10 potted plants included phalaenopsis,
anthurium, kalanchoe, dracaena, ficus, roses, mums, hydrangea, Peace
Lily and hyacinth. The top 10 outdoor plants were geranium, boxwood,
violet, Cape Daisy, petunia, lavender, hydrangea, fuchsia, heather and
skimmia.
The most important FloraHolland markets include Germany, United
Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Poland, Denmark, Switzerland
and Austria. The U.S. was 14th, while Canada did not make the top 25.
The auction is a co-operative, owned by 5,000 growers. FloraHolland
employs 4,000 people, and has total sales of more than $6.3 billion.
 |
|
| FLORIST De KWAKEL – R&D manager René van Berlo, in the breeding house of Florist De Kwakel B.V. | |
 |
|
| FLORIST De KWAKEL – René van Berlo is manager of R&D with the company, a leading gerbera and anthurium breeder in the Netherlands. | |
 |
|
| FLORIST De KWAKEL – Freshly harvested gerbera stems, ready for market. |
FLORIST DE KWAKEL
Florist de Kwakel is one of the world’s largest gerbera and anthurium
breeders. The five-hectare greenhouse includes young plant material,
seed and seedling production, along with research and development. It
has customers in more than 75 countries.
Florist de Kwakel was formed in 1975. All the breeding and hardening off of the plants is done in the Netherlands, while tissue culture work is done in India.
“We have extensive testing before varieties are introduced,” explained
R&D manager René van Berlo. About 25 to 30 new varieties debut each
year. “There are so many markets we serve, and each has different
needs.”
Exceptional varieties remain in the market for about 15 years or so, with the average being four to five years.
Gerbera are difficult to transport and must be packaged carefully.
“They’re best suited for local markets,” said van Berlo. This offers
gerbera growers protection from imports.
Over the past 20 years, the shelf life of cut flowers has greatly
increased through breeding. Cut flowers should last about 14 days at
the consumer level, said van Berlo.
He said while the floriculture industry has done a great job promoting
its products, it’s been shy about tooting its own horn. “We’re not
getting enough students studying horticulture,” he said. “This is an
interesting and innovative economic sector. We need the mass media to
reach young people. It’s hard to find good, young breeders coming out
of the universities.”
Government has a role to play in fostering greater innovation, “but industry has the greater responsibility.”
About 70 per cent of gerbera production at Florist De Kwakel B.V. is cuts.
 |
|
| WAGENINGEN – Wageningen UR has 78 greenhouse compartments, each with two screens, CO2 enrichment, lights, a variety of substrates, and recirculated water that has been treated with UV. They are 5.5 metres tall.
|
WAGENINGEN UR
Wageningen UR is a collaboration between Wageningen University, Van
Hall Larenstein School of Higher Professional Education, and the
specialized former research institutes (DLO) of the Dutch Ministry of
Agriculture. It has 5,600 staff and more than 8,500 students working to
solve scientific, social and commercial problems in the field of life
sciences and natural resources.
“Wageningen UR aims to make a real contribution to our quality of life,” notes its website. “To us, quality of life means both
an adequate supply of safe and healthy food and beverages, on the one
hand, and the chance to live, work and play in a balanced ecosystem
with a large variety of plants and animals.”
Dr. Sjaak Bakker is business unit manager of greenhouse horticulture, one of 15 programs operated by Wageningen UR.
The majority of problems they tackle are current production challenges,
he explained. By 2020, for example, they hope greenhouses will be
energy sustainable without the need for fossil fuels.
Nutrient recycling is a major thrust, as the industry is working towards completely closed systems with no leaching.
Labour-saving technology is another key initiative. “Over the past 20
years, labour costs have doubled,” said Dr. Bakker. “A lot of our
efforts are going into automation and robotics.”
Lighting is also important. But while it is important for crop
production, there are growing concerns with light pollution from
greenhouses. LEDs may be part of the solution, and extensive research
is being carried out with them.
Researchers are also looking at how excess heat from greenhouses can be
directed to nearby residential communities. “Most greenhouses (in the
Netherlands) are close to urban areas,” said Dr. Bakker.
All of their research is decided by a grower advisory board, he said. “It’s the board that sets the priorities.”
Complete tour highlights have been posted to the Web Exclusives section at www.greenhousecanada.com.
Print this page
