1,500 hectare of Dutch greenhouse area is waiting for a buyer

In the Netherlands, some 1,500 hectares of greenhouse area is just waiting to be cultivated. Nico Stijger, project coordinator of the Growers Association Zuidplaspolder explains: "Developing a horticultural area takes time. But right now, there’s hardly any movement at all. The growers, local government, nobody is doing anything.”

On April 2, Nico Stijger was one of those present at a meeting in Dinteloord, where all the project managers of Dutch horticultural areas were invited.

In general, Nico believes that areas that can run independently from fossil fuels, have the future. How to get things moving again? Nico: "Let’s be a little more creative. There should be much more synergy between the areas and the project developers. At the moment, everybody is just moving in his own little circle; there’s no cooperation. For that reason alone it’s good that all developers come together." The synergy can take place at different levels. Nico mentions a few: geothermal heat, water, fuels, CO2. "Horticulture tends to be individualistic. Progress is in cooperation.”