Agriculture and food-related industries in the European Union (EU) provide more than 44 million jobs. With its changing climate and the knowledge of European farmers for generations, the European Union maintains its place as one of the world's leading producers and exporters of agricultural products.
These existing facts have all changed with the corona virus outbreak. While the EU's food sector has resisted this, farmers and food producers have come under increasing pressure to provide the union with high-quality and safe food.
The initial curfews made it difficult for farmers to find seasonal workers, especially in the fruit and vegetable sector. The closure of food services has significantly reduced demand for meat products, some dairy products such as cheese. This existing closure also hit the wine producers, which are an important sector of the export market.
Currently, EU member states have come together to support these manufacturers with loans and guarantees for operating costs.
The research revealed that agriculture is one of the most important sectors in transforming the European economy and society into a long-term sustainable future.
According to this report, the EU's controlled agriculture has held its ground, raising over $31 million in 2020.
The European Commission recognizes controlled agriculture as the future sector of Europe. The policy and circular economic action plan has increased the interest in controlled agriculture throughout the European Union.
What are these factors that lead the European Union to controlled agriculture?
- Limited Arable Land
According to the World Bank, the percentage of the EU's arable land has been in steady decline since 1960. Today, less than 25% of the land in the region is arable land. In Central Europe, Croatia, Estonia and Slovenia, it is less than 15%.
Given arable land and these land challenges, producers and companies are turning to controlled agriculture.
For example, Agricool has responded to the limited arable land problem in Paris by arranging shipping containers with hydroponic systems. Thanks to these containers, the Agricool team is able to grow delicious strawberries on a large scale in dense urban areas.
- food safety
According to the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe, "44 people every minute - more than 23 million people a year get sick from eating contaminated food. An estimated 4700 people die annually in the region".
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Norovirus infections are the most common cause, causing an estimated 15 million cases, followed by campylobacteriosis with close to 5 million cases.
Taking this situation very seriously, the European Commission is committed to ensuring a high level of plant, animal and food safety. The Commission believes that every European citizen has the right to know how the food they eat is produced, processed, packaged, labeled and sold.
Food security contributes greatly to the transition to products grown with controlled agriculture. In controlled agriculture, products grown with a technology-based production approach are protected from negative factors coming from outside. For example, in controlled agriculture, pesticides are not needed. The products are not affected by the adverse climatic conditions in the outdoor environment, the use of water or the physical or microbial hazards caused by herbicides.
- Adverse weather conditions
According to the report of the European Environment Agency, extremes in temperature and precipitation changes affect crop and livestock productivity in Europe. It is estimated that climate change will reduce crop productivity and increase the number of natural events that negatively affect agriculture, especially in parts of southern Europe.
As a result of these difficulties, the EU is turning to controlled agriculture. The Commission has incorporated efficient irrigation, precision agriculture and sustainable food production in greenhouses in its climate adaptation strategy. These measures are believed to not only help protect local ecosystems and biodiversity, but also increase the resilience and predictability of food production in the region.
- Agricultural Independence
Despite its small size and dense population, the Netherlands produces far more food than it can consume. Despite a third of the country being below sea level, the Netherlands exported $111 billion of agricultural products in 2017.
The main reason for this success is controlled agriculture.
The Dutch pioneered special greenhouses with temperature and humidity control. The total greenhouse size in the Netherlands, which has a greenhouse presence on an area 56% larger than the island of Manhattan, is 36 square miles. As a result, the Netherlands is agriculturally very independent.
Not only that, the Netherlands uses its greenhouses and energy more efficiently. While some Dutch farmers produce over 100 million tomatoes per year from 14 hectares of land, they only use 4.15 liters of water instead of the global average of about 97 liters used in tomato cultivation.