While January and February brought real winter frosts to Latvia, work continued unabated in the greenhouses. Young people from Bulduri Technical School are now planting spring flowers, while cucumbers are ripening in the greenhouses in Mārupe. However, the cold weather has significantly increased heating costs, Latvian Television reports on 20th February.
Despite the winter cold, the greenhouses at Bulduri Technical School are bustling with springtime activity – flowers are blooming beautifully, and the school's students are busy planting pansies in pots. The technical school explained that although it is freezing outside, the necessary temperature is maintained in the greenhouses throughout the winter. However, the cold winter has resulted in higher expenses – heating costs in January were approximately twice as high as last year.
Laima Ozoliņa, an agronomist at the Bulduri technical college, said: "This beautiful, harsh, white winter has required much higher heating costs. This will partly affect the cost of production."
While flowers suitable for colder climates are grown in Bulduri during the winter, cucumbers in Mārupe require much warmer temperatures.
Maruta Kravale, Chair of the Board of SIA "Mārupes siltumnīcas," pointed out: "January was quite cold, but we had enough heat. We have a biogas plant that produces heat, we have natural gas. We have a natural gas boiler, a cogeneration plant, and a wood chip boiler house. We have various options, so we can play around and see which one is the most cost-effective at any given moment."
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