More semi-closed greenhouses
The Sival supports the recent growth of the French greenhouse industry. While the production area with domestic greenhouses has remained quite stable over the last couple of years, the industry does see some growth every year. In 2010 for example, France was one of the first European countries that adopted semi-closed greenhouse production. Ever since, greenhouse builders have been building a number of semi-closed greenhouse structures, especially for growers of tomatoes and cucumbers in Southern France.
This is also shown in the figures of Agreste at the French Department of Agriculture. Their reports confirm that the domestic acreage with protected tomato and cucumber crops saw a slight increase over the last year.
Slight increase in acreage and production
In 2016, the total acreage with greenhouse tomato production in France grew to a total of 1924 hectares. Most of this production takes place in simple plastic or tunnel greenhouses, of which most development took place in the regions of Bretagne and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA). The biggest increase in growth of acreage was confirmed in Southern France.The overall production of the French tomato industry, both greenhouse and open field, saw an increase of 4% to 620,500 tonnes in 2016. This makes France the 7th largest tomato grower in the European Union.
The acreage with cucumber production in heated greenhouses increased with 3 % in 2016 to a total of 392 hectares. The acreage with cucumber crops in unheated greenhouses amounted to 117 hectare last year. The complete production acreage in France was estimated at 568 hectares, which made for a total production of 124,683 tonnes.
Year round tomato production with the help of LEDs at Jardin de Rabelais in Avoine
New developments
France is also an interesting country for the introduction of new technologies and innovations. New research centers and breeding stations with a lot of advanced greenhouse technology have been opened over the last five years, and growers continue to invest in technologies like LEDs and cogeneration to establish year-round, energy-efficient production.
Kiwi greenhouse in Montauban
Other interesting developments taking place are in the field of solar energy, as some French vegetable growers were early adopters of PV greenhouses. In addition, France is home to several other interesting players within the kiwi and berry industry that made serious investments in new greenhouse technology over the last year.
Strawberry production in France
Next week we will pay a visit to the Sival in Angers. Send us an e-mail if you are exhibiting and have any interesting news to share with us.