News Legumes
HAK wants to increase local cultivation of kidney beans
Vegetable and legume manufacturer HAK wants to gradually increase the local cultivation of kidney beans over the coming years. New figures show that the company is already well on its way. This year, the manufacturer obtains 25% of the need for large kidney beans from Dutch soil, a doubling compared to last year.
The volume of kidney beans that vegetable and legume manufacturer HAK is getting from its own soil this year has doubled. As a result, 25% now comes from our own soil. Traditionally, exotic bean varieties (including kidney beans) come from North America, with Minnesota as the main growing area. However, since Zeeland growers have a lot of knowledge of and experience with local bean cultivation, HAK decided to try it here too, with the first real harvest year 2018. "The Dutch kidney bean can compete with that from America, only the yield per hectare is lower" , the company reports.
Increase local cultivation
HAK wants to increase the cultivation and processing of locally grown kidney beans in the coming years. "At the moment we already source at least 85% of our vegetables and legumes from nearby", explains Marko Wolthuis, fieldman and agrotechnologist at HAK. He is referring to a radius of 125 kilometers from the factory in Giessen. "Our aim is to grow as many exotic bean varieties as possible here. The fact that we are already getting 5% of our kidney beans from the Netherlands within 25 years after the first tests is very positive." Wolthuis emphasizes that mother nature remains the most important factor for success.
Stimulating local cultivation has been a goal of HAK for years and that is why it is prepared to pay a little more for this. "The kidney beans we grow in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen happen to be no more expensive this year (due to the poor harvests in North America) than the beans we normally get from North America. But this situation is different every year. we will always give priority to local cultivation, even if that leads to a higher cost."
let sow
This year, Tonny de Koeijer is growing kidney beans for the fifth year in a row and is working together with HAK. His harvest is good for several tens of tons this season. "However, the start of the season was quite difficult. Due to the lack of rain in the spring, we were only able to sow in May," he says. With kidney beans it is important that there is sufficient moisture during the sowing period, but in general the beans need only little water. "When the seeds have germinated, the cups rise above the ground and now and then some rain falls, then there is a basis for a good cultivation."
HAK is now also testing the cultivation of other exotic legumes. You can think of chickpeas and black beans. Despite the fact that the final results of these species are (still) variable, they will be continued for a number of years and, if successful, they will be further scaled up.
Kimberly Baker
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