In recent years, the number of producers growing peppers, cucumbers or zucchini has drastically decreased in Flanders. This is reported by the Belgian trade publication felt based on information from the Minister of Agriculture, Joe Bruns.
The number of pepper growers in Flanders decreased by 73 percent between 2005 and 2021, from 110 to 30. In the same period, the cultivation of cucumbers also gave up. The number of cucumber growers has dropped from 120 to 37. The number of zucchini growers has dropped from 84 to 62 growers, according to Agriculture Minister Bruns. However, this is not the case when production declined over the specified period. ‘This means the zoom has been increased.’
This happened mainly in the cultivation of peppers and cucumbers as a result of the previous energy crisis. “Companies have had to make big investments to keep energy costs reasonable. So it’s really about mandatory scaling. Otherwise, farmers would not be able to keep afloat. On the other hand, in recent years, production has also increased due to improved varieties and technology.’
