How A Tiny Country Became The 2nd Biggest Agricultural Exporter In The World

Business Insider

21 Sept 2025  #greenhouses #farming #agriculturalsystem

The Netherlands is the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter by value despite being only about the size of Maryland. Inside large greenhouses, farmers grow millions of tons of tomatoes and peppers with the help of bees, robots, and custom LED lights. The country's research hub, Wageningen University, has turned this innovation into a global model for farming. But now the industry faces rising energy prices, labor shortages, and a nitrogen pollution crisis. So how are the Dutch adapting, and can their model really feed the world?

https://youtu.be/diBS0VfVcbs/

00:00 - 01:07 - Intro

01:08 - 01:30 - How the Dutch Reclaimed Farmland

01:30 - 02:00 - WWII & The Winter of Hunger

02:00 - 02:50 - Industrialized Farming and Research

02:50 - 03:12 - Inside Advanced Dutch Greenhouses

03:12 - 07:35 - Looye Kwekers Tomato Harvest

07:48 - 10:21 - VD Holland Pepper Harvest

10:21-12:04 - Energy Use

12:04 - 14:43 - LED Lights, Plant Growth, and Robots

14:43 -15:14 - Postwar Research

15:14 - 16:20 - Emissions and Environmental Pressure

16:20 -17:40 -  Wageningen Dairy Campus

17:40 - 18:49 - Can Greenhouses Feed the World?

18:49 - 19:48 - Farms of the Future

19:48 - 19:58 - Credits

#greenhouses #farming #agriculturalsystem