Several political parties in their election campaigns point to scaling back the arrival of labor migrants to the Netherlands. For horticulture, this would be "a life-size problem", argues former horticulturist and historian Jaap van Duijn and housing market expert Pieter Boelhouwer in the Algemeen Dagblad.
The article focuses on the Westland situation, where housing for migrant workers is very difficult to realize. "Westland has a problem and they have themselves entirely to blame for that," Boelhouwer told the newspaper.
Drastic changes in horticulture are inevitable, according to Van Duijn. "Westland used to have the advantage of good soil, relatively many hours of sunshine, and a nearby market in The Hague. However, horticulture has long since ceased to be land-bound and, thanks to climate control, modern greenhouses can be located anywhere. The obvious thing to do is to move horticultural production to where the sales market is and the workforce lives. This development is already visible. In Westland, the greenhouse area is getting smaller and smaller, while the big horticultural companies are spreading their wings in many countries. I don't know whether there will still be any greenhouses here in twenty-five years' time."
Source: Algemeen Dagblad (€)