Asparagus, onions and carrots grow on almost every second vegetable field in Lower Saxony. These are the preferred crops among the 880 vegetable growers in Lower Saxony, according to the Landvolk press service. Some 160 vegetable growers are producing their vegetables according to ecological criteria. Here, carrots, cabbage, onions as well as beetroot and chard are the favorites. The data was collected by the State Statistics Office in its Vegetable Farmers Survey 2018, referring to cultivation data for the year 2017.
The total vegetable area is 20,200 ha, of which 5,184 ha alone are designated as asparagus fields. Another 950 ha of asparagus fields are not yet in production. Second place is taken up by conventional onions with an area of 2,637 ha. Carrots are grown on over 2,000 ha, followed by ice-berg lettuce with 1,057 ha and cabbage with broccoli at number 5. Kale, which is so popular in Lower Saxony, was grown on 488 ha last year. Edible gourds, which have recently gained in popularity, came to 266 ha.
Organic carrots ranked # 1
Among the 160 organic vegetable growers, carrots are ranked number one in the growing statistics, being grown on 413 hectares, followed by almost 200 hectares of onions and leeks, followed by beetroot and chard with 174 hectares and vegetables such as beans, peas, pumpkins and zucchinis with a total of 172 ha as well as stem vegetables such as asparagus, fennel and rhubarb with 172 ha as well. According to the Competence Center Organic Agriculture Lower Saxony (KÖN) vegetables were grown nearby larger cities such as Hannover, Lüneburg, Göttingen or Osnabrück.
Source: Landvolk Niedersachsen