3 months Ago
Acres of glass greenhouses and plastic tunnels now proliferate, because growers prefer controlled urban farming with high production quality. These conditions protect the strawberries from harsh weather and facilitate easier harvest. For example, cultivation of the English Lady Emma variety is performed in greenhouses by grower Hendrik Satter of Starberry in Nieuwaal. Before, "we were only able to pick for a month and a half, now we're able to pick from March through December," he said.
Open Field Cultivation Declines
Though the greenhouse cultivation has witnessed a substantial growth - from 21 million kilos in 2010 to a forecasted 66 million kilos in 2024- in the same period, production with open field farming observed a downward trend. The area grown for outdoor strawberry production almost halved; however, output only marginally fell from some 21 million kgs to 20 million kgs over the same period, which are headline figures illustrating an increase in yield of nearly double.
Areas under other soft fruits like raspberries, blackberries and currants have also decreased. Blackberries and blueberries: Down 64% for lands devoted to blackberry-bearing bushes and vs. areas planted with blueberries since 2010. CBS reported that competition from Eastern Europe means growers are likely to change and grow different crops, or use the land for other reasons.
Yet more than 50% of all soft fruit is still grown in Limburg and North Brabant; blueberry cultivation is the main one.
Fruit or Vegetable? A Fruit That is Actually a Vegetable
Blueberries, and for that matter, all berries are not tracked in CBS harvest data, but strawberries are, which is strange because they aren't classified as a fruit. Technically speaking, by botanical standards, strawberries are supposed to be fruits, with the cones that contain their seeds technically classifying them as an accessory fruit. CBS points out that this makes them a vegetable.
That's why strawberry harvest data is incorporated into the national vegetable production figures, while other soft fruit is excluded and does not appear in the official agricultural statistics list maintained by CBS.
