Greenhouse Production Tips From The Netherlands

Greenhouse producing peppers in the Netherlands

Initiative Image
Advertisement

Just like in the U.S., peppers and tomatoes are popular greenhouse-grown vegetables in the Netherlands. While participating in Bayer CropScience’s Vegetable Future Forum in Germany in December, American Vegetable Grower had an opportunity to take a short trip to the Netherlands and tour two greenhouses. (For highlights on the Vegetable Future Forum, go to http://bit.ly/Z9zPoz.)

Like in the U.S., as well, Dutch greenhouse growers make sure they have a market for their crops, they strive to get a jump on the competition by offering product as early in the season as possible, and they try to keep the use of crop protectants to a minimum.

The first grower the group visited on the tour produced peppers in a 13.5-acre greenhouse. The second operation was growing tomatoes on the stem and plum tomatoes.

In the first facility toured by the group, which included several U.S. growers — Bill Brim of Lewis Taylor Farms in Georgia; Kent Hamilton of Hamilton Growers, also in Georgia; Alian Pincot of Bonipak in California, and Gary Tanimura, of Tanimura & Antle, also in California — the pepper crop had been in the greenhouses for just one week. It was pointed out by one of the tour guides, Wim Petersen, crop manager, horticulture, for Bayer CropScience in the Netherlands, that the greenhouse structures housing the plants are made from galvanized steel and can be sustained for up to 25 years.

Top Articles
Have a Plan For Climate Change? Why Fruit Growers Need To Act Now

Colorful Peppers

The pepper grower, Mark Litjens, is part of an association that consists of 40 growers, each growing peppers and working together to produce red, green, and yellow peppers. Those on the tour learned that to be involved in vegetable greenhouse production in the Netherlands, growers must be experts from the get-go. For example, they must know about the necessary permits, have the expertise to produce the crop, and know the ins and outs of marketing. Because the cost of production is high, there is no room for mistakes, added Petersen.

Litjens uses a hydroponic system to grow peppers using recycled rockwool. One of the main pests he encounters is thrips, which he tries to control via beneficial insects. In the past, there was zero tolerance to thrips, but now many greenhouse growers accept a threshold of thrips as some pressure is needed for the beneficial insects to work. According to Petersen, in a typical greenhouse in the Netherlands, the normal application of crop protectants is foliar but the preferred application method is through drip irrigation.

Lots Of Labor

Like in the U.S., labor is not cheap. About 2,500 hours of labor are needed to produce 1 acre of peppers. The labor usually comes in the form of students who earn about 7 euros (which is about $9) per hour.

The three main labor activities include wiring, trimming, and harvesting. The plants have to spin (to get the proper lighting, as no artificial lighting is used) so a wire is wrapped around the plant, as it grows approximately 3 inches every week. This wiring process helps with harvest, keeping the plants in an upright position and allowing for four stems on each plant. The goal is to make the pepper plants branch out until they produce four stems, said Litjens. As the plants get larger and more branches occur, those branches are pruned.

In addition, the grower noticed that by pumping carbon dioxide (CO2) into the greenhouse, he was able to bump up yields by 10%. To help distribute the CO2 among the plants, plastic cubes located next to the rockwool are used to blow it through plastic sleeves.

Tomatoes Of Fresh Valley

A visit to Fresh Valley, also located in the Netherlands, highlighted the production of cherry tomatoes on the stem and plum tomatoes. Unlike the pepper facility, artificial light is used to help boost production.

According to a spokesperson at Fresh Valley, the company gets a jump on the market with the use of artificial lighting. Lights are typically turned on in the afternoon so they don’t confuse the bumble bees during pollination. The bees are released in the morning and the artificial lights are not turned on until they reenter their boxes.

After a crop is started, yellow sticky traps are used to monitor for whitefly. In February, the beneficial insects are brought in to keep the whiteflies at bay. The cost to use beneficials is about $5,000 per acre. Like the pepper crop, the tomatoes are produced in rockwool which is elevated off the ground and a gutter collects excess drain water. One plant is on the floor, which serves as a backup plant in case a plant dies, added Koen Van den Eynde, product manager, Bayer CropScience in Germany, who also served as a tour guide.

The tomatoes are pruned to only one or two stems per plant, and CO2 also is used to help increase yields. A gas engine provides electricity for cooling water and the CO2. The CO2 is distributed to the plants at night through a plastic pipe.

Elevated along the outer walls of the greenhouse were additional tomato plants from a nearby nursery. By placing the plants along the greenhouse walls, space is saved and tending to the plants is simplified as workers can stand on a moveable ladder.

“The plants’ white roots indicate no pythium,” added Van den Eynde. Root development can be stimulated by inducing water stress, which, in turn helps establish a strong root system, he explained.

Tomato Buyers

As Fresh Valley is able to offer tomatoes to the marketplace two months before the competition, they make purchase agreements for the year. So it comes as no surprise to learn that supply continuity is essential to the business. Customers will go to another supplier if Fresh Valley cannot produce, even for one week.

According to Fresh Valley, all packed tomatoes already have a buyer, and the company can deliver in Germany to virtually any supermarket. The price, however, depends on the client. As Fresh Valley produces specialty tomatoes to fill a niche market, the company usually can command higher prices.

 

 

0

Leave a Reply

Avatar for Aurora Aurora says:

Hello, we are a Spanish couple, living in Madrid, we have 20 years and we are looking for an agency to help us to find work in the Netherlands. We are serious, responsible, and we look forward to work and we would like to find agencies that hire people to work in greenhouses. We expect news Thankfully Cristian and Aurora

Avatar for Simon Simon says:

I am a tourist to holland, can I visit to greenhouse to see the production.

Avatar for Furculita Nicolae Furculita Nicolae says:

Hello. I would like to get a job in a greenhouse from Holland. I am from the Republic of Moldova, but I have romanian passport. Is it possible? How can I obtain a job in this field, if it is possible for me? Thank you.

Avatar for Van Nguyen Van Nguyen says:

Hello, I have a greenhouse in Australia, I would like to hire an expert tomato grower. Can you help me introduce someone in that field? Thank you so much

Avatar for Rashid Rashid says:

Hi, we have 5 acre hydroponics greenhouse in Saudi Arabia. We want experienced grower for our project. We have both vine and leaf crops.

Regards
Rashid

Avatar for Daffodil Entrampas Daffodil Entrampas says:

hi im from Philippines im actually looking for a sponsorship to work in your company ,i worked in Australia as a picker and sometimes doing crop worker im doing very much around the green house…hopefully u could give me a chance…..thank you

hi this is peter william from india
basically i m farmer, i have manufacturing unit for coco peat. i think every agri growers know about coco peat .
if anybody needs coco peat , feel free ask me +917708748258, [email protected]
many thanks

Avatar for Pj Chacko Pj Chacko says:

We are visiting Netherlands from 3-11-2015to 14-11-2015.we are from India. We are planning to start green houses for the production of vegetables with collaborations from nether land firms or technical know from your side. We are interested to see green houses in this visit period. Would you please make arrangements for the same. Costs will be born by us.

Avatar for v. k. sharma v. k. sharma says:

i am v.k.sharma presently serving in govt job but i interested for green house farming due to fill up the necessity of our country. i dont know about agriculture but passion for agriculture. provide guideline pse

Advertisement