Organic farming is about encouraging, not suppressing

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MA ATSCHAP ROZENDA AL OPTS FOR RESISTANT VARIETIES

‘ORGANIC FARMING IS ABOUT ENCOURAGING, NOT SUPPRESSING’ IN ORGANIC FARMING, THE ECOSYSTEM NEEDS TO DO ITS JOB, ACCORDING TO HANS ROZENDAAL. HEALTHY SOIL, NATURAL ENEMIES AND RESISTANT VARIETIES HELP TO KEEP DISEASES AND PESTS IN CHECK. Although the weather has been unsettled this growing season, the celeriac at Maatschap Rozendaal is looking good. In mid-September, when our interview takes place, the leaves are still fresh and green against the clay soil of the Hoekse Waard, an area of reclaimed land not far from Rotterdam. Grower Hans Rozendaal estimates the tubers weigh 650 grams at the moment. He expects they’ll easily grow to the optimum size for supermarkets: 700 to 1,200 grams.

Packing for supermarkets Hans and his brother Jan run a 50 hectare vegetable farm in the Dutch town of Strijen. They’ve almost always worked organically. The family farm converted in 1998–99, when the brothers joined the partnership. Jumbo, a Dutch supermarket chain, is the biggest buyer of their celeriac. They pack the vegetables themselves and provide the same service for several other growers, Hans says. “I’d say we process 600 to 800 tonnes a year.”

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BEJO ORGANIC MAGAZINE

Not all Maatschap Rozendaal’s produce finds its way to supermarkets; some goes to processors and producers of vegetable packs and meal kits. “We sell to anyone who values our product,” Hans says. “We’ve always kept our sales independent; we’re not members of anything. We have good relationships with specialist firms, like BioFreshi, Bio-Center Zann, Eosta, Bioport, BioTropic and TOFF.” Consumers can also order their products online. Maatschap Rozendaal was a pioneer in 2006, opening a webshop to sell its own vegetables and other organic foods. Hans says, “It worked well at a time when organic products still weren’t widely available. Eventually the costs got too high, and we sold the webshop in 2016.” Since then, their produce has been for sale through Landzicht Bioweb, which works with the online supermarket Hofweb.

A diverse crop plan Maatschap Rozendaal’s crop plan is as varied as its sales. Along with celeriac, the brothers grow red cabbage, white cabbage, parsnips, winter leeks, courgettes, pumpkins, peas destined for the canning industry, and grass clover. “A wide variety lets you spread the risks,” Hans says. “Conditions will be good for one crop one year and a different one the next. And a diverse crop rotation is good for the soil. That benefits your results. If you’re good to the soil, it will be good to you.” On average, they grow grass clover as a resting crop on a third of their land, always for two


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Organic farming is about encouraging, not suppressing by Bejo Zaden - Issuu