The production of roses in the Netherlands has become more and more difficult. Besides the increased competition from Africa and South America, Dutch growers face problems to control pests and diseases. A new plan from the Dutch growers association LTO, must recover the Dutch rose industry. While in the past years the availability of permitted chemical pesticides has gone down, the introduction of biological alternatives did not increase with the same speed. As a result, there are not enough pesticides to control pests and diseases
in roses.
In response to this, growers are using illegal pesticides. This can be read in the Dutch magazine Vakblad voor de Bloemisterij.
According to the rose grower and spokesman of the LTO, Joop van den Nouweland, besides the government and growers organisation LTO growers themselves can be blamed for the present lack of proper pesticides.
“Growers have been waiting too long to express their concerns,” mentions Van den Nouweland in the article in the Dutch magazine. According to him, in the short term, more crop protection products should be made available and growers should share their experiences.
To strengthen the position of the Dutch rose growers in the long run, a number of Dutch organizations, including LTO and FloraHolland, are participating in the Action Plan Rose. This plan focuses on a profitable rose production by 2020. The plan is based on three
pillars:
1) development of cultivation systems that are less depended on chemical pesticides;
2) creation of durable certified marketing chains, and
3) within a short time – accomplishment of an effective remedies package.
source: HortiBiz / Vakblad vd Bloemisterij