ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF STORAGE IN AIR CONDITIONED ROOTING ROOMS COMPARED WITH FIELD STORAGE FOR FORCING TULIPS ON DUTCH BULB HOLDINGS

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 135: VII Symposium on Horticultural Economics, XXI IHC

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF STORAGE IN AIR CONDITIONED ROOTING ROOMS COMPARED WITH FIELD STORAGE FOR FORCING TULIPS ON DUTCH BULB HOLDINGS

Authors:

C.O.N. de Vroomen, A. van der Linden

Abstract:
On many bulb holdings in The Netherlands bulbs are forced to obtain flowering during the winter. In the past twenty years, bulb forcing has been modernized and rationalized to a considerable degree. At present, two systems are in use on the larger holdings. These systems differ as to the way in which the bulbs are stored after planting on the forcing boxes:

Field storage: The bulbs are planted in large boxes (100 × 100 or 100 × 150 cm) which are covered with straw and stored in the open. This method can only be applied where the soil permits the use of heavy tractors to transport the boxes to the greenhouse during the winter.
Storage in rooting rooms: The bulbs are planted in smaller boxes (60 × 40 or 75 × 50 cm) and stored on pallets in air-conditioned rooting rooms. This method is used on holdings where system A cannot be applied because of soil conditions.

The economic advantages and disadvantages of both methods are difficult to determine. Where both systems can be used, the main question is which of the two systems is the most economical in the long run. To answer to this question, linear programming models were used to compare the two methods under optimal conditions.

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