In addition, Rijk Zwaan also benefits from thefavourable economic conditions that causean upturn in the seed business after the war. Inthe first place, the introduction of the Breeders’Decree provides better protection for growers andtherefore better yields. However, the disadvantageis still that the Breeders’ Decree is only applicableinside the Netherlands. In addition, the governmentcreates a favourable business climate by settingup institutes such as the aforementioned IVT, whichfocuses on giving advice and inspecting crops.The Netherlands at its narrowestThe ongoing liberalisation of global trade hasgreat potential for the seed trade, but moreimportantly, the horticulture sector in general willagain find it easier to market its products abroad.Greenhouse horticultureAs a result, production can be expanded, andthis will benefit a seed trader such as Rijk Zwaanin turn. Liberalisation does have a flip side to it,Starting in the early 1950s, greenhouse horticulture really takes off,however. Seed traders abroad also see an oppor-particularly in The Westland. The growers are all looking for an alternative totunity to provide growers in the Netherlands with‘cold ground cultivation’ after the sector suffered a loss of 16 million guilderstheir products. In 1949, the seed trade industryin 1950. On 12 March 1953, newspaper Het Parool reports that due to the greatbecomes concerned about this development.losses in this sector, the Foundation for Agriculture has asked the Minister ofAgriculture to support the affected growers. However, the minister doesn’twant to address this unless measures are taken to improve the economicsituation in the ‘cold ground sector’. As a result, many gardeners start to seekrefuge in greenhouse horticulture.Greenhouse horticulture doesn’t have a very long history compared totillage and cattle farming. So when Professor Minderhoud (Professor of LandManagement Science at Wageningen Agricultural College 1927-1959) says tohis students that ‘speaking to a farmer means speaking with twenty centuriesof experience,’ it doesn’t apply to this young horticulture sector.Greenhouse horticulture in The Westland only emerged at the end of the 19thcentury. Growing fruit trees behind walls to shelter them from the wind is thefirst step. The next step is to install windows on top of these walls.The further development of greenhouse horticulture led to large-scalegrape growing in the Netherlands at the end of the 19th century, and in the1920s vegetables such as tomato and cucumber were also grown under glass.In the 1950s, we see an ever-increasing expansion of greenhouses inThe Westland, and market gardeners start to specialise more and more.Grapes as a crop disappear almost completely from greenhouses inThe Westland in those years.40Rijk Zwaan | Moving forward together
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