Until now, experiments with sustainable lily cultivation have mainly been done on small test fields. But next season there will be a large practical test with sustainable bulb cultivation in Drenthe. Ten growers who are active in the Westerveld municipality are taking part. They are now going to carry out a practical test on part of their own land.
One of the farmers participating is Gert Veninga from Hijken. “I think most growers were already working on that. These crop protection products are also quite expensive, so as a farmer you would really like to reduce that use. We can now carry out large-scale trials under the expert guidance of the Hilbrandslaboratorium from which we can learn a lot. . I am very happy that we can participate.”
Lots of money available
The project involves 1.2 million euros; 600,000 euros comes from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, 100,000 euros comes from the province of Drenthe and the other 500,000 euros is raised by the business community, including growers and distributors of pesticides.
The lessons learned will be made available to all participating growers. “All that information is shared with the other growers. So I don’t have to do it all myself. There are others that I also learn from,” says Veninga.
As a project leader, the Hilbrands Laboratory in Wijster carries out measurements, advises farmers and involves the environment. “We would like to share the results that we achieve with the growers with local residents. The project is therefore primarily intended to communicate with the environment. The idea is that they can take note of it, but also provide input,” he says. Janny Peltjes of the Hilbrands Laboratory.
Hope for more support
The hope is that the project will also reduce resistance to lily cultivation. Because in Westerveld a battle has been raging for years between growers and the action group Meten=Weten. The municipality also fails to bring the two closer together; King’s Commissioner Jetta Klijnsma makes another attempt.
Veninga believes that bulb cultivation is sometimes framed too negatively. “The resistance is sometimes also an explanation. We use resources that we also use when growing foodstuffs. We often go a step harder with sustainable bulb cultivation than with other crops,” concludes Veninga.