Крошечная страна, которая кормит всю планету

The Dutch Agricultural Phenomenon The Netherlands earns nearly €100 billion annually from agriculture. The Netherlands is a small and densely populated country. Its population density is 496 people per square kilometer. For a long time, it lacked the resources for large-scale agriculture, but now it ranks second among the world's food suppliers. How did it achieve this? Viewed from above, the Netherlands doesn't look like a country with mass agricultural production: numerous patches of densely planted fields, each quite small by modern standards. In the country's main agricultural regions, it's difficult to find a potato field, greenhouse, or pigsty that isn't surrounded by a skyscraper, factory, or other urban development. Yet, more than half of the country's land is devoted to agriculture and crop production. Dutch greenhouse complexes stretch like a necklace of seemingly gigantic mirrors, glittering in the midday sun and blazing with an unearthly glow at night. Some cover as much as 70 hectares. It is thanks to these extraordinary greenhouses, which maintain a constant internal microclimate, that the country, located 1,600 kilometers from the Arctic Circle, has become a world leader in the export of heat-loving crops like tomatoes. The Dutch also hold the world's first place in potato and onion exports, and are second in overall vegetable exports. More than a third of global vegetable seed transactions are also concluded in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is a world leader in the implementation of innovative technologies in agriculture and livestock farming. Since 2000, Dutch farmers have almost completely eliminated the use of pesticides, and since 2009, they have reduced antibiotic use in poultry and livestock farming by 60%. Currently, the Netherlands is the second-largest food exporter, behind only the United States, a country 270 times larger. Climate-controlled greenhouses allow for year-round harvesting. With the growing demand for chicken, Dutch producers have developed and implemented technologies to maximize poultry production while maintaining humane animal welfare. By precisely determining the required amounts of water and nutrients, potato farms double their yield. Only rainwater is used for irrigation. A typical open field requires about 60 liters of water; on the farm, this amount is reduced to 15. Every year, all tomatoes are grown anew from seed, and the old tops are processed—they are then used to make crates for the harvest. To combat pests, the farm uses natural remedies—an entire army of mites that don't eat tomatoes but destroy harmful insects. The Netherlands is famous for its seeds. In 2016, the country sold approximately $1.7 billion worth of them. However, it does not market genetically modified seeds. Dutch farmers even offer vegetable seeds that can independently defend themselves against major harmful insects. A single tomato seed, costing $0.50, from a high-tech greenhouse can yield a yield of 68 kilograms. Dutch researchers strive to provide food not only to their homeland but also to developing countries. This small country exported €90 billion worth of agricultural products last year. But for the Dutch, quality is as important as quantity, which is why they have developed a new concept for the development of the agricultural sector. For the Netherlands, the agricultural sector is primarily a high-tech industry. According to Dutchreview, R&D spending at Dutch agricultural companies with more than 10 employees increased by 19% in 2018, reaching €864 million. For other sectors of the Dutch industry, investment growth averaged 11%. A year earlier, surpassing the US and UK, the Netherlands climbed another spot in the Global Innovation Index (GII) for 2017, surpassing Sweden and taking second place behind Switzerland. So, if anyone is going to create the agriculture of the future, it will certainly be the Dutch. While in 1999 the Netherlands used more fertilizer than any other European country (an average of 500 kg per hectare), by 2014 this figure had more than halved, and in greenhouses, fertilizer is practically no longer used at all.