Incentives Launched to Increase National Production of Fruit, Vegetables

Luxembourg's Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Viticulture has announced that the first edition of the Luxembourg Vegetable Growing Day was held at the Lycée Technique Agricole in Gilsdorf on Thursday 16 January 2025 and attracted a total of 130 participants and interested parties from vegetable growing and agriculture.

The expansion of vegetable growing in Luxembourg is one of the priorities of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Viticulture, Martine Hansen, as well as part of the current government programme.

The programme included practice-oriented lectures and discussions with national and international speakers on vegetable and greenhouse production, further processing of vegetables, dealing with pests and diseases, as well as environmental law and food safety in fruit and vegetable packaging. The Ministry provided information on funding opportunities within the framework of village development and the LEADER initiative, as well as innovation and diversification strategies with agri-innovation.

In addition to a Swiss vegetable producer and a German specialist in greenhouse technology, speakers from the Administration for Technical Services in Agriculture, Luxembourg Veterinary and Food Administration, Agri-Innovation, Environmental Administration, Central Office of the States for Computer-Aided Decision Support and Programs in Plant Protection (DE), Information System for Integrated Plant Production (ISIP), and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology presented current knowledge.

More specialist advice in fruit and vegetable cultivation and subsidies for greenhouses in sight

Minister Hansen pointed out to the producers present the expanded possibilities for specialist advice in the field of fruit and vegetable cultivation. Fruit growers can now take advantage of separately subsidised advice on stone and soft fruit. In the future, in vegetable cultivation, advice on production in greenhouses will be subsidised in addition to advice on outdoor production. Specialised expert advice is vital to successfully master these productions, stated Minister Hansen.

The protected cultivation of vegetables in larger greenhouses is still rarely used in Luxembourg. To remedy this, Minister Hansen presented the new draft law on state subsidies for greenhouses to the producers.

Minister Hansen stressed that the government wants to increase national production of vegetables and fruit and improve the domestic level of self-sufficiency over the next few years: "Our domestic fruit and vegetable production has potential, because the demand for seasonal, regionally produced food is high."

Due to the great success of the participants and the positive response, the Luxembourg Vegetable Growing Day will now take place annually in order to continue the broad exchange between experts and practitioners, said Minister Hansen.

The Luxembourg Vegetable Growing Day was organised by the "Gardening Production" action group, which was set up by the Ministry of Agriculture. The group brings together the administration for technical services in agriculture, Service d’Economie Rurale, Lycée Technique Agricole, the water management office, the nature administration, the Institute for Biological Agriculture and Agroecology and the Chamber of Agriculture to work together on topics related to horticulture.