Objective of the tour program was to inform the students about actual status and ongoing trends in (glass-)greenhouse sector in Northwest-Europe and its linkage towards local society. the program had to be inspiring for the students and the new relations should be of importance in their future professional careers.
The tour program was intensive which resulted in many visits in short span of time. HollandDoor and the students of OKState whould like to thank all involved people and companies and want to mention at least following: Brightbox, Gerja Gerbera’s, Peppers Unlimited, Kalter Strawberries, Schooneveld Breeding, FloraHolland, Nice2Get, Nolina Potroses, Rijnbeek, GreenQ, Solyco, LMC, Ilvo.
Cuba agriculture reform committee studies Dutch agriculture
The Dutch embassy in Cuba requested HollandDoor to organize a tailormade study trip of 1 week for 4 members of the Cuban agricultural reform committee: Mr. Roberto Ramón Pérez Pérez (delegation leader), Mrs. Marlene Maidelene Veitía Rubio, Mr. Antihus Alexander Hernández Gómez and Mr. Lázaro Peña Castellanos. The delegation was accompanied by Mr. Rodney Bustamanta Salazar, economic employee of the Dutch embassy. Mr. Fermín Quiñones Sánchez, the new Cuban ambassador in the Netherlands, joined also a few times the group during the trip in The Netherlands.
HollandDoor organized a tailor made studytrip in period of 7 - 14 December 2014 in which the Dutch agro sector was higlighted from different perspectives. Companies and sector organizations of different agro sectors and chainlinks were visited. Also several visits were made to ministries and agencies to discuss the facilitating and enabling role of the Dutch government. Academic and applied research, education and extension services were highlighted. The whole program was put in a framework of sustainable production and Corporate Social Responsibility as important drivers behind the current configuration of the Dutch agro cluster.
Since 2011 is Cuba working on an update of its economic and agricultural policy in which small steps are taken to a more market driven way of working. Individual farmers can now rent agricultural land, cooperatives are now also allowed in marketing and transport and a small part of the yield is allowed to be freely traded. Despite these policy changes, the daily agricultural practices show a rather conservative attitude in adopting these new possibilities. More awareness and knowledge transfer toward the agricultural sector might be needed to stimulate innovations in Cuban agricultural sector. About 80% of Cuban food demand is currently imported which has huge impact on the trade balance. Especially crops are imported which can be produced in Cuba as well due to its good climate and soil fertility. In this perspective, the Cuban government is working on a policy to realize import substitution and export promotion. It is very important that Cuba's economy is growing and their agricultural sector has the potential to be one of the drivers for this. However, governmental policy has to facilitate and enable this growth and for this reason an agricultural reform committee has been created to act as "thinktank".
Objective of the visit to The Netherland was to deliver a contribution to this new Cuban agricultural policy development. The Netherlands is interested to become partner in this policy development and realization in dayly agricultural practice. This will open possibilities for Dutch agricultural companies and institutes. The visit of the Cuban delegation to The Netherlands should result in strengthening of bilateral relations and create awareness of and definition of possibilities to work together in optimization of agricultural production, processing, trade and logistics. This process should be stimulated by having also more understanding of the economical, social and political framework in which the Dutch agro sector works on a global platform.
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Windset Farms from USA and Canada requested HollandDoor to organize a tailor made study trip to the Arava District in Israel.
Mr. Steven Newell (CEO) and Mr. Robert Antscherl (Head Pepper Grower) of Windset Farms visited on 24 November 2014 multiple growers in the Arava District in Israel guided by Mr. Zvi Howard Wener, a well know Israelian sweet pepper consultant.
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Guatemala development program
From 6 to 18 October, a delegation from Guatemala studied the European system of quality and phytosanitary control. The aim was to develop a common control system for the Central American States and to promote export to the EU. The participants represented the Ministries of Agriculture, Economic Affairs and Health. The program included visits to the European Commission in Brussels and the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and several organizations in Ireland.
The visits in the Netherlands were organized by Harry Barendse of HollandDoor.
On 13 June HollandDoor organized an excursion for Colombian cut flower growers from Agricola El Cactus. They mainly produce carnations and roses. The guests were very interested to see the similarities and differences between Colombian and Dutch horticulture. They not only visited cut flower growers, but also visited greenhouse vegetable and potted plant growers to have a clear overview of the Dutch greenhouse sector.
The group visited Nice2Get Roses, Duijnisveld Sweet Pepper and Floricultura Orchids. The Colombian guests were impressed with the current state of Dutch horticulture. They concluded that there are possibilities for improvement in Colombia but also many chances to increase profits over there.
