Not only have commercial bulb farms decreased in number while growing in size, they have also increasingly moved away from certain bulb varieties; the share of narcissi and gladioli growers in particular has declined – by 64 and 53 percent respectively since 2000. At the same time, the cultivation area for these varieties has decreased. Furthermore, the share held by tulip bulb farms has declined by 47 percent whereas the cultivation area has grown. In other words, fewer and fewer growers are responsible for an increasingly large area used for this type of bulb.
Flower bulb cultivation areas
Gladioli
Hyacinths
Lilies
Narcissi
Tulips
Other
2000
1.64
1.13
5.07
1.84
9.7
3.13
2001
1.45
1.17
4.95
1.88
10.05
3.12
2002
1.51
1.19
5.07
2.02
10.56
3.87
2003
1.28
1.19
4.94
2.03
11.02
4.08
2004
1.35
1.14
4.54
1.79
11.02
3.68
2005
1.38
1.26
4.32
1.76
10.55
3.72
2006
1.31
1.31
4.89
1.88
10.36
3.76
2007
1.39
1.33
5.01
1.77
10.74
3.42
2008
1.17
1.38
4.97
1.97
11.39
3.45
2009
1.12
1.39
4.27
1.88
11.73
3.17
2010
1.12
1.38
4.68
1.8
11.4
2.97
2011
1.17
1.45
5.08
1.81
11.86
2.76
2012
1.11
1.45
5.09
1.78
11.25
2.81
2013
1.11
1.43
4.89
1.76
11.35
2.75
2014
1
1.48
5.22
1.68
11.44
2.77
2015
0.93
1.48
5.84
1.68
12.16
2.75
2016
0.93
1.46
6.07
1.59
13.2
2.8
Flower bulb cultivation areas
Gladioli
Hyacinths
Lilies
Narcissi
Tulips
Other
2000
1.64
1.13
5.07
1.84
9.7
3.13
2001
1.45
1.17
4.95
1.88
10.05
3.12
2002
1.51
1.19
5.07
2.02
10.56
3.87
2003
1.28
1.19
4.94
2.03
11.02
4.08
2004
1.35
1.14
4.54
1.79
11.02
3.68
2005
1.38
1.26
4.32
1.76
10.55
3.72
2006
1.31
1.31
4.89
1.88
10.36
3.76
2007
1.39
1.33
5.01
1.77
10.74
3.42
2008
1.17
1.38
4.97
1.97
11.39
3.45
2009
1.12
1.39
4.27
1.88
11.73
3.17
2010
1.12
1.38
4.68
1.8
11.4
2.97
2011
1.17
1.45
5.08
1.81
11.86
2.76
2012
1.11
1.45
5.09
1.78
11.25
2.81
2013
1.11
1.43
4.89
1.76
11.35
2.75
2014
1
1.48
5.22
1.68
11.44
2.77
2015
0.93
1.48
5.84
1.68
12.16
2.75
2016
0.93
1.46
6.07
1.59
13.2
2.8
Tulip main reason for increased flower bulb area
Despite the decline in the number of flower bulb growers, the total area of farmland destined for bulb cultivation has increased. Since 2000, the flower bulb area has increased by 16 percent to more than 26 thousand ha. Between 2015 and 2016 alone, the area increase amounted to 5 percent.
This increase is particularly apparent in the cultivation of tulips: 36 percent since 2000. Last year, more than half of all flower fields were used for tulip cultivation. The areas with lilies and hyacinths grew less rapidly, by 30 and 20 percent respectively. Gladioli are becoming less and less popular among bulb growers. The cultivation area of gladioli has shown a steady decline for years and has decreased by 43 percent since 2000.
