Dutch growers have no money for clean irrigation water

By 2016, the discharge of waste water containing crop protection will no longer be permitted in the Netherlands, unless the waste water is purified. This is stated in the 2nd Memorandum Sustainable Plant Protection. Smaller companies in particular struggle to fund additional investments, partly through existing liquidity problems. Purification is currently affordable for 30-35% of the Dutch companies with hydroponic cultivation (potting soil, rock wool). These companies operate 40-50% of the entire greenhouse acreage with hydroponic cultivation. This is according to a report from Wageningen UR.

There are opportunities to reduce treatment costs, such as mobile purification, leasing, collective treatment or development of emission-free cultivation. In addition, the number of smaller companies will be significantly reduced (about 6% per year) in the coming years. The vacant land will be taken over by financially stronger companies that can afford the investment.

Reduce purification costs
Partly due to the poor liquidity of horticultural companies, more than half of the companies can’t afford proper purification. Especially companies with less than 2 ha are struggling to bear the additional costs.

Options to reduce the treatment costs are being developed. The market is concerned with the development of leasing. Also, there is an ongoing number of pilot projects exploring the possibilities of collective treatment. Wageningen UR conducts research into water loop-closure at company level. And, there is a trial to demonstrate that year-round-emission is possible with the application of conventional techniques, with no loss of production or quality.

Read the complete study here.

The study was conducted by LEI Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment.