Why India is an interesting country for greenhouse suppliers

This week, a Virtual Trade Mission India has taken place (from 8 to 12 February). This mission was led by the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Mrs Sigrid Kaag, and aims to help companies in the Netherlands and India gain insight into local challenges, to provide them with market information, and to expand their network with new commercial partners. The mission focused on the themes of food, energy, and water.

Dutch Greenhouse Delta was organizing partner of this mission and our Advisor India, Desh spoke at the Co-Creation Session: ‘Safe and sustainable local food production chains’. This co-creation session is the kick-off of the Ideation roadmap. 

"The theme of food safety is becoming increasingly important in India. The population in India will grow to 1.6 billion in the next 10 to 15 years, and India will need to provide this growing population with fresh food while enhancing its own economy by exporting more food to the Middle East, Africa, and certain neighbouring countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand, which depend on food imports," Dutch Greenhouse Delta shares. "If India grows by 300 to 400 million people in the next 15 to 20 years and wants to produce twice as much food, it will need to do so in a more effective, more sustainable, healthier, safer, and sustainable manner. The main challenges for which India needs help are water management, air pollution, climate change, health, and population growth."

In India, Dutch Greenhouse Delta focuses on, among other things, awareness among governments, investors, and companies with respect to the hazards arising from the current food production system. "We strive to show them the benefits of using Dutch horticultural technology and knowledge. Our advanced technology and knowledge can play a large role in making the future food production of India more sustainable and effective. Horticulture makes a significant contribution to the main themes faced by India: biodiversity, air quality, water levels, and public health." 

"We also focus on collaboration between the Netherlands and India in the field of sustainability and diversification of the current Indian food production. We arrange this by letting Dutch companies collaborate with Indian young professionals and start-ups already active in the Indian agri-food industry. This creates the foundations for new innovative collaborations that could be implemented at a global level." The first one of a number of interesting co-creation events for this purpose, took place this week during the Virtual Indian Trade Mission.

"We also focus on the consumers in India, who want sustainable, pesticide-free, healthy, and high-quality food. With a focus on these consumers, we strive to establish partnerships with retailers, with which we want to development short-chain concepts. A ‘short-chain concept’ reduces the post-harvest and makes the sales economically feasible."