Dutch lily farming

'Everyone wants to talk sustainably, but doing sustainably is often a second.' Jaap Moerman is talkative himself, but is done with the throwaway society. 'I want to leave something behind for the next generation. And in my case, that's our company. That something can continue to exist is also sustainability for me. So we have to keep going.'

Asked why he doesn't see flowers as a disposable product, Jaap responds passionately. 'Flowers are emotion. As humans, we need living material to feel good. Pets, nature, plants and flowers. People mourn, get married. I definitely don't want to compare flowers to food or drinking water, but for me they definitely come back in the list of important necessities of life. And when someone then compares that with cheap plastic stuff from China, I can't get my head around that.'

Lilies from Moerman grow under a so-called cabrio greenhouse. When it is above 15 degrees in summer, an ingenious system drives the roof aside and the crop benefits from the outdoor climate. Sun and wind, that's all the flowers need in summer. In winter, although the greenhouse is heated, since lilies are a moderately cold crop, they can be kept reasonably cool.

Jaap wants to be transparent.

'Okay, our steam boiler is still running on gas. But it is so different from open-air steaming, where you have a lot of energy loss. We only heat the coir we use, nothing more, nothing less. Super efficient.' The cogeneration plant that Moerman uses to generate its own power is also powered by gas. 'But we generate much more than we need ourselves, so we also supply households in the area with power. And did you know that we are the first lily grower in the Netherlands to grow entirely under Full-LED?'

Like Moerman Lilium, Qualily is among the largest lily growers in the Netherlands. They too are leading the way and have installed Full-Led in two greenhouses in the winter of 2023. This saves as much as 40% on electricity compared to the old SON-T lamps. In winter 2024, the other two greenhouses will follow with which all the company's locations will be equipped with LED lighting.

Both Moerman and Qualily no longer use chemical pesticides, only to intervene should an unexpected pest occur. Bart: 'It is better for us not to spray anyway. The use of chemical agents makes thrips increasingly resistant and even more difficult to control. You break the circle of life, so to speak, and we don't want that!

Before 2025, Qualily expects to use geothermal heat, the sustainable alternative to natural gas, at one of its sites. Did you know that there are 0% CO2 emissions when using geothermal heat? And that there are more and more geothermal heat sources in the Netherlands that growers can connect to? The horticultural sector was the first industry in the Netherlands to venture into this innovative technology. True pioneers, in other words.

At both farms, lilies are grown in the most sustainable way possible, within current capabilities. To keep up, considerable investments are made, although the potential and feasibility of these do not always lie solely on the grower's side. Consider, for instance, the infrastructure needed to connect a company to a geothermal heat source. It sometimes frustrates Moerman.

'They want everyone on public transport, but as long as fares remain high and connections mediocre, you'll never get everyone on.'

Either way, Dutch lily growers are developing. They are proud of the steps they are taking and strive to make their product as sustainable as possible. They like to tell their story so that everyone keeps putting that little flower on the table with a good feeling.

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