World Agricultural Case: How Dutch Agriculture Achieves Efficient Ecology

The Netherlands, located in northwestern Europe, is a country with many people, few land, scarce resources, and low lying terrain, with a land area of only over 40000 square kilometers. The Netherlands is known as a “country with low yields”, with 27% of its territory below sea level, facing problems such as low-lying, humid areas and insufficient sunlight, which are extremely detrimental to crop growth.The Dutch, in order to develop the land they rely on for survival, have been using the sea to make fields for generations, with a coastline of over 2400 kilometers. Therefore, there is a saying that “God created the sea, the Dutch created the shore”. Because of this, the Dutch “see land as gold” and make every effort to improve its utilization rate. They plan their land use very carefully, and instead form a unique high-tech green modern agriculture, leading the world’s agricultural level and becoming the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world after the United States. The basic national conditions of the Netherlands determine the basic characteristics and development models of modern agricultural development.01The Characteristics of Modern Agricultural Development in the Netherlands1. Agricultural production is highly scaled, intensive, specialized, and market-orientedThe scale of modern agriculture in the Netherlands is mainly reflected in the country’s extensive farms. In order to promote agricultural development, the Netherlands carried out large-scale “land consolidation” in the early 20th century. In 1924, the Netherlands promulgated the Land Consolidation Law (the first edition), which proposed to centralize scattered land through land replacement, promote mechanized farming and large-scale agricultural production, and reduce the problems caused by fragmentation of agricultural land. At the same time, measures were taken to improve soil quality and improve rural infrastructure, resulting in an increase in agricultural production efficiency. According to statistics, the total number of farms in the Netherlands in 1996 was 110700, of which 91100 were specialized farms. The average size of each farm is around 18 hectares.The intensification of agriculture in the Netherlands is manifested in a highly efficient industrial structure, high productivity level, and high value-added production of agricultural and sideline products. The Netherlands vigorously develops animal husbandry, vegetables, flowers, and horticulture to enhance the processing and value-added of agricultural and sideline products. Planting, animal husbandry, and horticulture respectively account for 40%, 54%, and 6% of the agricultural structure, and their proportion of creating agricultural product output value in the Netherlands is 10%, 55%, and 35%, respectively. The Netherlands has high quality agricultural products and a large overseas demand. The export value of agricultural and fishery products is over 30 billion US dollars, accounting for 60% of the total agricultural products, of which 80% are exported to EU countries. The Netherlands is the world’s largest flower exporter, with flower exports accounting for over 70% of the international market and becoming the country’s pillar industry, known as the “European gardener”.Dutch greenhouse agriculture, whether it is vegetables or flowers, generally involves specialized production and multi variety management. The tomato planting company in Westerland, which specializes in producing tomatoes, has cut off 90% of the Dutch tomato market from five other specialized enterprises. The Red Palm Company located in Bryswick specializes in researching and growing red palm flowers, from breeding research, seedling production to seedling sales, all operated by the enterprise. The company has developed and operated over 40 varieties of red palm flowers.The marketization of modern agriculture in the Netherlands is mainly manifested in the correlation between the market and each farmer, focusing on the value-added processing of agricultural products for import and export, and establishing an efficient and complete agricultural product marketing system, making Dutch agricultural products more competitive in the international market. Various cooperative organizations such as agricultural cooperatives unite individual agricultural producers and operators to enter the market with a high degree of organization, improving their production and sales specialization level and market competitiveness.2. Standardized and orderly market operation modelThe Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world after the United States, and its land area is only 1/270 of that of the United States. In the field of agriculture, the Netherlands is an absolute top student: the export volume of flowers, vegetables and fruits ranks first in the world, the export of dairy products ranks third in the world (only after Germany and New Zealand), the export of animal and vegetable oils ranks third in the world (only after China and India), and the export of meat ranks fourth in the world (only after the United States, Brazil, and Germany). Data shows that the Netherlands’ annual net agricultural exports amount to over 30 billion US dollars. Greenhouse vegetables account for three-quarters of the total vegetable production value, and 86% of the production will be sold worldwide. According to the average number of employed people in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishery, and agricultural sectors, their per capita foreign exchange earnings are far ahead of those of countries around the world.The Netherlands is both an important importer and exporter of agricultural products in the world. From an import perspective, the Netherlands is the largest market for American agricultural products in the European Union, and also an important importer of agricultural products from countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom. The Netherlands is also a major market for many countries in North and South America. From an export perspective, the Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, and other EU countries are its main markets for agricultural products. The Dutch export-oriented agriculture is characterized by the processing and export of agricultural products to generate foreign exchange and appreciation. It focuses on the processing and appreciation of agricultural products, with a large import of primary agricultural products used for food processing and a large export of high value-added processed food, greatly improving the ability to generate foreign exchange.3. Integrated industrial technology is widely applied in facility agricultureThe Netherlands attaches great importance to agricultural research and adopts advanced scientific technology in agricultural production, including mechanical technology, engineering technology, electronic technology, computer management technology, modern information technology, biotechnology, etc. In order to save arable land, the Netherlands vigorously promotes greenhouse agriculture and factory production. Indoor temperature, humidity, lighting, fertilization, water use, pest control, etc. are monitored by computers, and the crop yield is very high.The Netherlands vigorously develops land resources, actively reclaims land from the sea, formulates correct agricultural development strategies and policies, attaches importance to the development of agricultural education and research and application of agricultural technology. Through decades of continuous investment in agriculture and large-scale agricultural infrastructure construction, it has formed a huge competitive advantage in the agricultural industry internationally.4. A networked agricultural research, education, and promotion systemThe Netherlands has a well-developed agricultural research, education, and extension system, which are known as the three pillars of agricultural development and integrated management in the Netherlands. The government attaches great importance to agricultural research, education, and promotion, and regards promoting their development as an important responsibility of the government. Establishing a nationwide agricultural technology innovation system and network with farmers as the core is a fundamental experience for the great achievements of Dutch agriculture.The Dutch agricultural department pays special attention to investment in genetic engineering, selecting livestock, poultry, and crop varieties from around the world that are suitable for the country’s environment, relying on genetic engineering for improvement, and combining biological and genetic disease prevention to replace the use of various harmful chemical agents to the human body. This not only achieves significant economic benefits, but also effectively protects the natural ecological environment.5. The Agricultural Cooperation Organization has played an important roleThere are many types of agricultural cooperatives in the Netherlands, which can be generally divided into credit cooperatives, supply cooperatives, agricultural product processing cooperatives, sales cooperatives, service cooperatives, etc. Another type of farmer organization system is the “statutory industrial organization”, which refers to various associations. These associations unite farmers with the aim of strengthening the political and social status of farmers, which is conducive to fundamentally protecting their own interests. In general, farmers can participate in 3-4 cooperatives at the same time, establish alliance relationships with cooperatives through payment of membership fees, and obtain assistance and services that are difficult for individual households to achieve from the cooperatives, reducing costs in production, processing, and sales processes, increasing income, and effectively protecting their own interests.In the history of agricultural development in the Netherlands, agricultural cooperatives have played a huge role and played an important role in their agricultural development process. At least 60% of Dutch farmers’ income is obtained through cooperatives. The market share of cooperatives and non cooperative enterprises varies in different industries. In the supply industry, cooperatives account for 52% of the fertilizer and precision feed markets. In the sales and processing industry, agricultural cooperatives hold a significant market share, such as milk accounting for 82%, vegetables accounting for 70%, flowers accounting for 95%, sugar beets accounting for 63%, and potatoes reaching 100%. Approximately 90% of the bank credit required for agriculture comes from credit cooperatives.32.png02How to Develop Efficient Ecological Agriculture in the Netherlands1. Vigorously develop facility agricultureThe Netherlands has insufficient lighting and scarce land resources, which are particularly detrimental to agricultural production. The limitations of this regional environment have forced the Netherlands to improve land use efficiency by combining information technology, industrialization technology, and production technology. It has established a modern greenhouse with an area of nearly 170000 acres, which is automatically controlled by computers and accounts for about 1/4 of the world’s total greenhouse area. About 60% of the greenhouse is used for flower production, and 40% is mainly used for fruit and vegetable crops. The greenhouse has achieved full automation control, including lighting systems, heating systems, liquid fertilizer irrigation and fertilization systems, carbon dioxide replenishment devices, and mechanized harvesting and monitoring systems, ensuring the efficient and high-quality production of crops.2. Encourage the development of circular agricultureThe Dutch government attaches great importance to the research and development, promotion and application of agricultural recycling technology, especially in areas such as soilless cultivation, precision fertilization, rainwater collection, and the recycling of water resources and nutrient solutions. And promote the development of planting and animal husbandry towards clean production, adhere to the prevention and control concept of “land based livestock, combined with planting and breeding”, and continuously innovate the development model of circular agriculture. In 2016, the Netherlands further proposed the “Circular Economy 2050” plan, which regards the development of circular agriculture as an important way to address climate change and resource scarcity; In 2018, the Action Plan for the Development of Circular Agriculture was released, which requires the construction of a systemic circulation system among planting, horticulture, animal husbandry and fishery industries nationwide or globally as far as possible, so as to reduce the impact on the external environment and significantly improve the waste utilization rate. We plan to achieve a recycling rate of 80% in the fields of agricultural waste and food consumption by 2030, becoming a leading circular agriculture economy in the world, and achieving a recycling rate of 100% by 2050.3. Actively promote digital agricultureThe Netherlands attaches great importance to information operation, field monitoring and big data collection, and uses big data for management, prevention, control and production to promote the implementation of “digital agriculture”. Through the application of big data and cloud technology, the weather, soil, precipitation, temperature, geographic location and other data of a field are uploaded to the cloud for processing on the cloud platform. The processed data is then sent to intelligent large-scale agricultural machinery to command them to carry out fine operations, achieving increased production and income. In the promotion of digital agriculture, the Netherlands has invested a lot of money in agricultural technology development, and large-scale enterprises have taken the lead in developing “digital agriculture” technology. Agriculture also has specific requirements for the quality of practitioners, requiring agricultural education and certification for employment.4. Explore low pollution agricultureAfter nearly 40 years of governance, the soil and water environment of agriculture in the Netherlands has been significantly improved, especially the effective resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure. The use of fertilizers and pesticides has significantly decreased, and efficient, low residue pesticides and biopesticides have been widely used. Pest control is mainly biological control, supplemented by physical control and chemical control, and agricultural environment pollution has been effectively controlled. In 2011, the Dutch government launched the sustainable development agenda and began exploring the national green growth model. Guided by the concept of sustainable development, the Netherlands has begun to organically integrate ecological environment, agriculture, and leisure tourism, exploring the development of new leisure rural models, developing circular economy, protecting ecology, and expanding economic benefits on this basis.5. Explore the integrated development of agricultureIn recent years, the Netherlands has continuously increased its investment in agriculture and formulated a series of land integration policies, concentrating small, scattered and fragmented agricultural land into contiguous plots for planting, so as to promote the mechanized operation of agriculture and gradually transform the agricultural structure from the traditional fragmentation model to the large-scale and intensive development model. Efforts will be made to adjust the industrial structure, with a focus on organic pastures and organic agricultural products, to promote the transformation of agricultural and animal husbandry products from quantity to quality; At the same time, by doing a good job in processing and marketing, it promotes the formation of a multi sectoral and multi subject cooperation interest connection mechanism, increases the market value of agricultural and livestock products through the extension of the industrial chain, and improves the value-added benefits of farmers.The “inborn shortage” of natural resources forces the Netherlands to focus on technological innovation, actively develop facility agriculture, circular agriculture, digital agriculture and ecological agriculture, and explore a Dutch agricultural model characterized by specialization, intensification, high-tech and modern management.33.png6. Emphasize land resource protection and achieve green and sustainable agricultural developmentThis is reflected in various fields of Dutch agriculture, from enterprise research and development and production to planting models, to prevention and control measures, and deep processing of agricultural products. The Netherlands is a typical country with more people and less land, so Dutch people attach great importance to land protection. Protecting land resources and achieving sustainable development are the primary considerations for agricultural operators. The Netherlands attaches great importance to the protection of land resources. In rural areas, people can see that all newly plowed cultivation layers are dark brown, with a good soil particle structure, and the soil is fine and uniform, like a sponge. The reason for achieving this effect is because during land cultivation, fertilizers and pesticides are used reasonably, even without the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Big data, physical methods, and biological control are used to protect the soil and keep it organic, in order to truly produce “three products and one standard” products. In short, adhering to investment reduction, clean production, waste resource utilization, and ecological industrial models is the key to promoting green agriculture and achieving high-quality and sustainable agricultural development in the Netherlands.7. Strengthen the support of green development technology and explore the development pattern of emerging agriculturePromote the sustainable development of modern agriculture through technological improvement and innovation. The Netherlands has built a large-scale and multi-level circular system across industry chains by breaking down barriers of development and interaction between departments and fields, in order to achieve the minimum level of resource waste and environmental pollution. By utilizing the principles of agricultural ecosystems and from the perspectives of resource optimization, circular economy, and sustainable development, we will organically integrate subsystems such as grass planting, livestock and poultry breeding, energy production, microbial cultivation, and processing, strengthen the research and development and promotion of green development technologies throughout the entire planting and breeding process, thereby promoting the structural optimization of the agricultural industry and enhancing the competitiveness of agricultural products in the market. Enhance the value-added benefits of farmers in the industrial chain through multi-agent cooperation. The Dutch government and relevant departments, closely following the international macro development trend and market development demand, continued to increase investment in agricultural research and development, effectively promoting the development of agriculture in the direction of digital agriculture and smart agriculture.8. Improve the scientific and cultural level of farmers and improve the agricultural talent training systemThe high cultural quality of farmers is one of the reasons for the development of high-tech modern agriculture in the Netherlands. High tech agriculture in the Netherlands is not only used in greenhouse technology and detection technology, but also in big data analysis of field prevention and control management. 80% of farmers have already used GPS systems. The application of high-tech and big data in agriculture in the Netherlands requires high-quality farmers to learn and apply. Therefore, the Netherlands attaches great importance to providing technical training and education to farmers, and has a relatively developed and complete agricultural technology promotion and education system to enhance their cultural literacy, technical ability, and management ability. Pay attention to optimizing the structure of agricultural talents, cultivating innovative talents in agriculture, enhancing the human capital of agricultural practitioners, and enhancing industrial competitiveness. So, valuing farmer education and improving agricultural talent cultivation are also decisive factors for the success of high-quality modernization of agriculture in the Netherlands.