Tulip gets a permanent place at an arable farmer

The cultivation of tulip bulbs in the Netherlands grew by almost a quarter in 6 years. At the same time, the total area of ​​flower bulbs shrank. The tulip has grown enormously, especially in Flevoland and North Holland. Which crops are displaced by this cultivation in the cropping plan?

The cultivation of tulip bulbs will only be recorded separately in the Combined Statement from 2015 onwards. Since that time, its cultivation has increased by 2.800 hectares to 14.900 hectares. Good for almost 25% growth. This makes the tulip by far the largest flower bulb grower. In second place comes the cultivation of lilies, which this year occupy 2 hectares. This is a 5.270% contraction since 20.

Continued growth
Bulb province of Noord-Holland still contains most hectares of tulip bulbs. It concerns 6.900 hectares. Flevoland will follow this year with 5.200 hectares. South Holland is number 3 with 1.624 hectares. It is the first time that the acreage in Flevoland exceeds 5.000 hectares. The cultivation has grown by 6,4% this year (+315 hectares). No other crop has grown so much in one year. In North Holland cultivation also increased, despite the large share of flower bulbs (4.730 hectares). Tulip cultivation increased by 6% in 13 years. This year it is 1,7%.

In South Holland, production increased by 6% over 33 years. This growth partly comes from the bulb area around Hillegom and partly from Goeree-Overflakkee. Voorne-Putten and the Hoeksche Waard are new cultivation areas for the tulip that we come across in the list.

Back to Flevoland, where the municipalities of Noordoostpolder, Dronten, Zeewolde and Lelystad are responsible for almost all tulip bulbs. Significant expansion of the acreage is noticeable here. In the municipality of Dronten, cultivation increased by 66% over 6 years. Good for 532 hectares. Even the Noordoostpolder managed to grow by 23% in that period. In Zeewolde the growth is 26% and in Lelystad 16%. Those are major expansions. Nevertheless, some provinces of North Holland are still showing considerable growth. In Hollands Kroon, for example, 18%. Usually, however, it is a few percent.

Fewer grains
Where does the space come from for all those tulips? An average crop plan in Eastern and Southern Flevoland in 2015 included 30% grains, 25% potatoes, 17% onions, 15% sugar beet and a few percent carrots. In Eastern Flevoland an average of 4,6% of the cultivation plan was taken up by tulips. In Southern Flevoland this was 8,4%. Here we see the shift in 2020. These percentages increased to 7,6% and 11%. It is striking that all crops remain stable in 6 years, except for grain. The share shrank to a quarter, at the expense of bulb cultivation.

The cultivation of flower bulbs has been on the rise in Drenthe for 15 years. The cultivation of tulips is not huge with 364 hectares. Certainly not compared to lilies, which cover 1.316 acres of the province. Despite this, tulip cultivation grew by 6% in 38 years. The cultivation of lilies actually shrank by 9,5%. Much more than with tulips, it is apparent that lilies seek light sandy soils. Plots are clustered here, where tulips are grown more and more on heavier soils thanks to the net system. After Drenthe, Noord-Holland grows the most lilies, followed by Limburg.

Permanent place at arable farmer
Tulips and lilies are by far the largest flower bulb crops, which are grown on an arable scale. Only the daffodil and hyacinth exceed 1.000 hectares in terms of rural area. The gladiolus comes under this with 811 hectares. For arable farmers in Flevoland, North Holland, South Holland and Drenthe, the cultivation of tulips is a welcome change in the crop plan, for which part of the wheat cultivation is removed. Livestock farms also rent out land for bulb growing, but trends in the area of ​​grassland and maize are hard to detect.

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