On Monday , the Flemish Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden visited Wim Scheers ' fellowship in Kontich , just in the south of Antwerp . At the invitation of the Boerenbond ( Farmers ' Union ) and thanks to the cordial reception and enthusiasm of the grower , she was given the chance to become acquaint with a exceptional subsector of the agrarian decorative plant refinement sector in Flanders , high - tech rose cultivation .
Wim Schreers , Sonja De Becker , chairperson of the Boerenbond and Minister Annelies Verlinden
It is definitely a subsector . Flanders has an extensive tree nursery sector , but ' only ' 65 ha of cut blossom under glass . With 3.5 hour angle of roses , Schreers is one of the big boy and also one of the five rose cultivator in the state . Moreover , the agriculturalist is a forerunner when it comes to cultivation innovation , they are in the limelight with their ecological production and , as was obviously intended , they showed the minister the passion and the craft of the professional .
The clean Avalanche , you have to smell out it
Wim speak at length about his society . He is the quaternary propagation ; his great - grandfather take up with dinero back in the day , before his grandfather grew tomatoes and peppers , until his male parent , after an incident with a nasty bacteria , at long last shift to roses . " I never knew anything else and never want to do anything else than continue my father ’s business " , Wim say . More than a decade ago , he stepped in during the ' difficult years ' , a time and situation that was completely different from today . In those twenty-four hour period , there were no subsidies , rival from Africa , bad prices , and necessary investments that could not be give .
" Things are dissimilar now , thing are go well . I would care to see this atmospheric condition every year , we can wangle perfectly , requirement is good , price are the same . That is why now is the time to invest . A new processing stock was lately instal , and a serious refurbishment is planned . " We have 1 ha of old Methedrine . Part of it will be demolish and the other one-half will be animate . We will then reduce slightly , to just over 3 ha , but in that expanse we go for to attain virtually the same production as in the current situation . This size is ideal . I have a permission / chance to build up another 1 ha , but I am not go to do it . Not only are raw materials exceedingly expensive , but I would also operate into problems with my ( energy ) supplies . "
A view of the old glasshouse
Wim is not lancinating on leave the old greenhouse untouched and , as suggested by his fellow worker , set hydrangeas in it , for example . peg to what you know , is his thinking .
The lion ’s parcel of product is destined for the Belgian market . A small-scale part is even sold flat by the troupe by substance of a peddle machine in front of the door . Schreers develop more than a dozen dissimilar varieties and tries to mix thing around every year . They are now looking for some extra red . The agriculturist has 5,000 metres of Red Naomi , but the demand for red is in high spirits , " There is plenty of way for more . Other immediate challenges for the near future are energy cost - we made a fleck of a error with the energy prices , which have go through the roof lately and in hindsight we did not set enough in Harlan F. Stone - and fine - tuning the bionomic cultivation . " For a while , Schreers bring out all organically , but they were force to change that . Ecological intend ' as organic as possible ' and give the consumer the signal that the ware has been crop as cleanly as possible .
Throughout the greenhouse , LED has been follow through , with the exception of half a hectare of Red Naomi ( where , for expert intellect of cultivation , extra Son - T is desirable ) .
For more information : Rozen Schreerswww.rozenscheers.be
© FloralDaily.com/Geert Peeters
