In 2018, 861 farms in Lower Saxony cultivated vegetables in the open ground on an area of around 20,300 hectares, and nearly 450,000 tons were harvested. As reported by the State Statistical Office of Lower Saxony (LSN), over 40 different types of vegetables are grown annually in Lower Saxony. The offer ranges from cabbage and leafy vegetables, stem, root and tuber vegetables to fruit vegetables and legumes.
Leaf and stem vegetables were cultivated in 2018 on the largest acreage of around 9,600 ha. On about 61% of this area, about 6,000 ha, grew asparagus. But the cultivation of ice lettuce covered just under 1,050 ha.
In the year 2018, by far the largest harvest comprised of root and tuber vegetables, with approx. 243,000 tonnes. Onions alone, with about 108,000 tons, accounted for about a quarter of this harvest, closely followed by carrots with nearly 98,000 tons.
More and more vegetable cultivation under protective covers
Overall, this acreage increased by 8.0% year-on-year to around 92 ha. The yield under protective cover rose by almost 30.0% compared to 2017 to approximately 29,600 tonnes. The initially high cost of purchasing, for example, for greenhouses or walk-in film tunnels should pay off over the years. This type of cultivation makes growers independent of the weather, because irrigation and the climate can be controlled in the greenhouses, benefiting both quality and crop yield.
Source: Landvolk Niedersachsen