Challenges to maintaining horticultural leadership in Limburg

In a special, Wij Limburg paints a picture of the status and challenges in horticulture in Limburg. Kiempunt brings you a summary.

With approximately nine hundred hectares, greenhouse farming is economically crucial to Limburg. Hubert Mackus, Deputy for Agriculture: "Together with horticulture in the adjacent Lower Rhine region of Germany, greenhouse horticulture in North Limburg forms the largest greenhouse horticulture area in Europe. Limburg is particularly strong in growing cucumbers, but soft fruit under glass - especially strawberries - is also on the rise."

Outdoor horticulture is also important. "At least 25 percent of all vegetables grown in the Netherlands come from Limburg. And in addition to the horticultural companies themselves, there are a huge number of suppliers around them. There is an enormous amount of overlap at the intersection of agriculture, logistics and manufacturing. Through collaboration and innovation from Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, we can produce food smartly and efficiently with a minimal CO2 footprint." In this way, Mackus believes Limburg's horticulture can also contribute to solving global food issues.

Labour market

Thijs Rompelberg of LLTB identifies 5 major issues in the labor market of horticulture:

• Increasing competition for migrant workers. Be careful not to price ourselves out of the market with high social charges.
• the need for unambiguous policy and regulations on the accommodation of labour migrants, so that more suitable accommodation can be provided.
• the image of the horticultural sector as an employer: people often think only of production and harvesting work. Due to technological advances (scaling up, automation and robotization) the demand for higher educated personnel will actually grow in the coming years.
• a warm welcome for employees, with good housing and good terms of employment, but also, for example, through training, (language) courses and career prospects.
• good cooperation between government, business and education.

Energy

Making the energy supply in horticulture more sustainable is a hot topic. Geothermal energy can play an important role in this in Limburg, provided the regulations in this area are adjusted, says Mackus. "Since September last year two geothermal wells in Grubbenvorst have been shut down because there was a possible link with earthquakes in the area. That chance is nil, but they want to be on the safe side. That is logical, but at the same time we must not be too frenetic. Otherwise horticulture can never become sustainable."

Alternatives

The sector is already looking for plenty of alternatives. Erik Gubbels of Kwekerij Gubbels, located in the Siberia horticultural area in Maasbree, explored geothermal energy and residual heat and ultimately opted for a biomass power plant, in combination with a CHP installation. Wouter Moerman of Kwekerij Moerman in Maasbree also opted for a biomass power plant, in combination with an ORC, a steam turbine, for his four-hectare horticultural business. Antonie Teeuwen of Teegrow in the horticultural area of De Kievit is taking a break because of the current discussion about geothermal energy. Together with LLTB he is now looking at alternatives such as biomass, electrification or generating energy using hydrogen via the existing pipeline network. Also an approach whereby municipalities build a sustainable power plant, where both companies and homes get their heat from is a consideration.

Product and process innovation

Innoveins has been engaged in product and process innovation at the intersection of plant and technology since 2016. Pim Deuling, business developer at Innoveins, puts the focus on putting knowledge into practice. "I think it's very cool that a number of blueberry growers are working on the development of a harvesting robot. It's also great that an exposure trial has been set up in cucumber cultivation, investigating the effects of LED lighting on growth, taste and shape."
Deuling hopes that more clusters will be added and more cross-pollination between them will occur. In a few years, successful products and services could then have been brought to the market.

You can find the complete Horticulture special of WijLimburg here >

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