The crop is looking great at VOF M. Verkade at De Poel in Monster, the Netherlands. Reason for three generations of tomato growers to take a nice picture of it. For the growers it is their last crop before the greenhouse will be transferred to neighbour Koppert Cress next spring. That was already announced at the end of last year.
Photo: LinkedIn Yanick. From left three generations, namely Yanick, his 89-year-old grandfather Joop, his father Marien and his uncle Gerrit. VOF M. Verkade started growing tomatoes in 1992, after Joop Verkade grew several other crops.
The youngest Verkade in the picture is Yanick. He joined the family business as manager in September last year. It was already clear then that 2020 would be the last cultivation year.
UAE
After the completion of the current cultivation, Yanick hopes to start growing in the United Arab Emirates. "I am still young, but I have been involved with tomatoes from an early age and I have also gained the necessary experience with sensors and remote cultivation. They are looking for that kind of knowledge in the desert, where I probably will start working at a project of about ten hectares."
Many kilos, also great prices?
But first it is important to complete the current cultivation well. "The crop is looking great and for that we, myself, my father, his brother and my grandfather, have done our very best. A lot of kilos will still be harvested, we only hope that a good price will be paid. For the time being there is only just a slight improvement in the price compared to the difficult summer months."