Which vegetables do we grow in greenhouses? They are mainly tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and aubergines. In 2023, these vegetables took up a total of 4.1 thousand hectares, CBS statisticians figure in response to the 'Netherlands in Figures' series.
Most of the area (over 43 percent) was used to grow tomatoes. Another nearly 38 percent was for growing peppers. This was followed by cucumbers and aubergines. The area of these four greenhouse vegetables was about 373 hectares larger in 2023 than a decade earlier.
After a peak in acreage in 2021, recent years have seen a decline in the cultivated area of these four greenhouse vegetables. The energy crisis is blamed for this. The same situation has also affected production.
In 2023, greenhouse vegetable yields were 1.63 million tonnes, almost the same as 10 years earlier. Greenhouse vegetable yields rose until 2020, after which they fell. In 2023, compared to a year earlier, the yield decreased by 2 percent, making it ultimately about the same as 10 years earlier.
That fewer greenhouse vegetables were grown is mainly due to high energy prices, CBS explains. For example, several tomato growers switched to cucumbers, partly because growing cucumbers costs less energy. So as many as 7 percent more cucumbers were harvested in 2023 than a year earlier. Of aubergines, tomatoes, and peppers, yields fell last year.
Source: CBS