Horti Fair underpins sector's transition phase

摘要

The horticultural industry appears to be at a crossroads. Mergers, expansions, demand for healthy products and most notably the transition from being an energy user to an energy supplier, characterise the current trends. "Horticulture has to be responsible for itself. We have to take into account the climate now and over the next 50 years," said Pieter van Geel, the Dutch state secretary for housing, spatial planning and the environment, during the opening ceremony of Horti Fair 2006. "We have to move to sustainable forms of energy and horticulture has been very innovative in this field. Between 1980 and 2002 energy efficiency in greenhouses in the Netherlands has improved by 50% and we believe that within the next 20 years the greenhouse sector wili become an energy provider.