Having just watched the excellent A Life on Our Planet, a spry 93-year old David Attenborough's 2020 "witness statement" (he's now 99!), it's hard not be cowed by the grand old man's ridiculous optimism in the face of the seemingly insurmountable problems facing the planet.
One thing that he did cite as an example of progress in the right direction (and part of Attenborough's vision of a solution to our environmental ills) was the success of the Netherlands' agricultural endeavours. I think I had some idea that they were leaders in vertical farming and hydroponics, but I had no idea things were so advanced there ... and so successful.
But, yes, it turns out that little Netherlands is now the second biggest food exporter in the world (after the USA, which is 240 times larger). The little densely-populated country - for reference it is about the size of Wales, or the province of Nova Scotia, or half the size of US states like South Carolina or Maine - has very little real estate to spare. Nevertheless, it has devoted more than half of its valuable land to farming, and it has developed one of the world's most intensive and efficient agricultural bases.
After the grim experience of the "Winter of Hunger" under Nazi occupation during World War II, food security became a national priority, and the Netherlands made some important strategic decisions, one of which was focussing on high-value agricultural goods like eggs, meat, cheese, tomatoes, peppers and flowers. There was government subsidization, a strong push towards agricultural education and research, and farmland was rationalized into more efficient larger farms. It pioneered greenhouse growing, which it has since taken to the next level, employing robots and algorithms, hydroponics, computer-controlled watering systems and crop ripeness surveillance, optimized LED artificial lighting, etc.
Despite all these high-tech solutions, bees are still used to pollinate the plants, and are kept in the greenhouses almost like pampered pets. Much of the picking and quality control and even some of the final packaging, is still done by hand, although often (and increasingly) with AI/computer help. Irrigation water is sparingly applied, recycled and reused, and water usage is one-fiftieth of the global average for equivalent crops. Pests and insects are constantly monitored and detected in real time, allowing for timely attention. Crop yields can be ten times or more than global averages.
This is industrialized agri-business taken to the nth degree, but it's sure as hell effective: in 2024, the country produced $140 billion worth of farmed goods. It has established itself as Europe's top exporter of meat, and about 60% of all crops produced in the country are exported, principally to Germany, the UK, China, and (ironically) even the US.
There are still challenges, though.
There is some worry about the large carbon footprint of Dutch agriculture, although since the Russian war in Ukraine deprived it of cheap Russian gas, there have been moves to secure home-produced energy from wind and geothermal power.
With the highest livestock density in Europe, the Netherlands also has the highest ammonia emissions on the continent, causing algae blooms in waterways and playing havoc with some native plant species. Calls to limit these emissions have led to mass protests as farmers see their livelihoods threatened. But changes to the diet of animals, separating their pee and poo, etc, have shown promising results.
There is also an increasing labour shortage in some areas of Dutch agriculture (I'm not really sure why), prompting still more AI, robotization and technology innovation, technology that is also exported across the globe.
So, if you want a business success story with a side of environmental hope, watch Business Insider's 20-minute doc on the Netherlands' agricultural revolution.
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