Inside Onions
This is how onion cultivation disappears from Zeeland
Few arable crops have such a striking development as the Dutch onion. If you pick up a 15-year-old map, you will see 2 deeply colored places as hotspots for onion cultivation: Zeeland and Flevoland. In 2019, that picture is completely different. How could this have happened?
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Choose the subscription that suits youFarmer&Bunder, the application of agrotech company dacom, provides insight into how the arable area in Zeeland is shifting. The website shows data from the past 4 years. After grain, potatoes and sugar beets, onion cultivation ranks fourth in the province. A clear decline is particularly noticeable this year. Over a period of 15 years, cultivation has continued to increase significantly.
Onion density
This year the province has 7.642 hectares of onions, on a total of 122.207 hectares of cultivated land. The vegetable crop therefore takes up 6,25% of the surface area. In the much smaller Flevoland, the 'onion density' is no less than 12%. South Holland comes in at 3% and Drenthe at only 0,9%.
There has been talk within the sector for some time about the decline of the onion acreage in Zeeland. Yet the highlight is still far behind us. In 2017, the largest acreage ever in the province was reached. At the time it was almost 9.000 hectares. Ten years earlier that was 7.500 hectares and in 2000 just under 6.000 hectares. The Boer&Bunder figures differ slightly from those of Statistics Netherlands. Both use data from the Combined Statement of RVO.nl. In this article we use the figures as B&B presents them as much as possible.
Recent area decrease
2018 showed a change in the Zeeland area for the first time. The area then decreased by 316 hectares, or 3,5%, compared to the previous year. A year later, that decline is even more noticeable. This spring, 7.642 hectares were sown or planted with onions. A decrease of 11,5%.
The division between seed onions and second-year onion onions is also interesting. Onion sets make up 30% of the total this season. Last year that share was almost 40%, although this also includes several hundred hectares of first-year onion sets. In 2017 the share was 45% and in 2016 48%. Contrary to some insider opinions, onion cultivation is not shifting from sowing to onion onions.
Distribution per municipality
Zeeland Flanders has by far the most hectares of onions. All 3 municipalities are good for more than 1.000 hectares of onions this year. Sluis leads with 1.350 hectares. Schouwen-Duiveland also has more than 1.000 hectares of onions. In all municipalities the area has decreased compared to a year earlier. This is very noticeable in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Schouwen-Duiveland.
Which crops do Zeeland arable farmers fill their onion plots with? This concerns 992 hectares that have been given a different destination. This is difficult to find in the total figures. The potato area remains rock solid at 19.000 hectares, although it almost reached 2017 in 20.000. The area of seed potatoes is gradually increasing. However, the grain area has increased, by 1.300 hectares this year. However, the 2016 level has not yet been reached. This increase is partly due to a decreasing sugar beet area.
Rise of the North
Fifteen years ago, Flevoland and Zeeland called the shots. The onion area in the Northeast Netherlands amounted to a maximum of 300 hectares. Even then, a very cautious increase was noticeable compared to the situation in 1995, when the area was less than 100 hectares.
In just 4 seasons, the Drenthe onion experienced a monster growth of 130%. In 2017, the area exceeded 1.000 hectares for the first time. Last year it was 1.114 hectares and the biggest jump was made in the current season. A plus of 58%. Most onions are grown in the municipalities of Emmen and Midden-Drenthe.
More onions on Groningen clay
The province of Groningen is also contributing, although the growth there is less intense. The area in this province for 2019 is 2.619 hectares. An increase of almost 30%. The area jump was made a year later compared to Drenthe. The 'Hogeland' is traditionally a large growing area. This remains the case with an extremely stable surface area of around 500 hectares. In 2016, the sandy and valley soils together accounted for 150 hectares. That is already 456 hectares this year. More than 200% more! More onions are also grown on clay soil. The most striking is the Oldambt region. There are 200 hectares of onions there this year, compared to 90 hectares in 2016.
As the figures show, the decline in area in Zeeland is a fairly recent phenomenon. After a few dips, the onion area in Zeeland has also continued to grow strongly since 2011. However; Issues such as poor prices, weather extremes, limited irrigation options and high thrips pressure or other diseases have put a stop to this increase in recent years. How the area develops further depends on these factors and the alternatives. Just like in the other arable farming regions on clay, the crop plan is full of harvested fruits. Financially speaking, growing grain, or a cash crop, remains marginal compared to the potential profit from onions.
Continuous investment
We can speak with slightly greater certainty about the growth of the area in the Northeast Netherlands. Arable farmers have focused on growth there and often also invested in mechanization and storage options. They have slightly more room in the construction plan for expansion, although the potato area is growing along with it. We should not level out other provinces either, even though the growth here is less significant. Overijssel supplies 500 hectares of onions and Limburg records an increase of 16%.
Scale is another issue. In Drenthe, most onion plots are 4 to 10 hectares in size and a third are above 10 hectares. The proportion of 4 to 10 hectares is equally well represented in Zeeland, although there are proportionately fewer plots above 10 hectares.