Record harvest greenhouse vegetables in crisis year 2014

In 2014, a record yield of greenhouse vegetables was harvested, Statistics Netherlands figures show. Never before were so many kilos of greenhouse vegetables been harvested. The uncontested leader is the tomato, of which 900 million kg were harvested in greenhouses last year - over 45 million kg more than in 2013. The bell pepper also reached a new high.

There's nothing strange about the record harvest. The acreage of greenhouse vegetables has hardly decreased in recent years, despite the crisis. With 4,865 hectares, the acreage in 2014 was only 133 hectares smaller than in 2010, when the acreage was at its highest level ever. What is more, last year circumstances were very favourable.

Below charts in Dutch:

Record yield
The greenhouse vegetable yield also achieved an absolute record last year. 1,803 million kilos of vegetables were harvested in greenhouses, 1,748 million kilos of which were fruit vegetables. The previous fruit vegetable record was achieved in 2011, when 1,684 million kg fruit vegetables were harvested in greenhouses.

Acreage greenhouse vegetables

Tomato
The greenhouse tomato acreage was bigger than ever in 2014: 1,780 hectares. No wonder then that the tomato harvest reached a new high: 900 million kg.

Bell pepper
The bell pepper acreage decreased to 1,200 hectares. The decline has been noticeable for a few years now: since 2010 (1,403 ha), the acreage annually decreased by 40 to 50 hectares.

Cucumber

For the first time in over ten years, the cucumber acreage decreased to a level below 600 hectares. That wasn't noticeable in the yield though, which was the highest since 2006 at 440 million kg.

Strawberries
The covered strawberry cultivation has been on the rise for years now, reaching 350 hectares in 2014. 29 million kg strawberries were harvested from it.

View the figures here.