During the Corona pandemic, people bought a lot of fruit and vegetables. Vegetable farmers have reacted to the higher demand and expanded their acreage.
Schwerin (dpa / mv) - Carrots, asparagus, spring onions: Vegetable cultivation has been greatly expanded in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the past year. According to the country's statistical office, the vegetable fields in the northeast grew by 385 hectares or 17.2 percent compared to the previous year. With 2240.7 hectares, vegetable cultivation was recently more extensive than it has been since the year 2000, it said. Of the 56 companies in the country, 27 grew as organic farms.
Broccoli was the most planted, covering 415.8 hectares, according to agency data. That was 6.4 hectares or 1.3 percent more than in 2020. Carrots grew on 206.9 hectares. Asparagus came third with 199.2 hectares - despite a decrease in acreage by 9.1 hectares. The largest increase was in pumpkins, whose acreage has increased by 148.4 percent to 117 hectares since 2020.
According to the office, more than four fifths of the vegetable fields in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are in the district of Ludwigslust-Parchim (almost 82 percent). This is also where the main growth in acreage was recorded, at around 300 hectares. Cultivation expert Rolf Hornig from the state's LMS agricultural consultancy explained that the increase in area there essentially affects one company. They have vegetable fields in Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and, in the interest of crop rotation, they grow more here and there.
Hornig sees another reason for the expansion of cultivation in the significantly increased demand for fruit and vegetables in the corona pandemic. "The companies have reacted to that," he said. Now the mood to buy has fallen sharply as a result of the energy crisis, and people are saving. "I could well imagine that in 2023 we will read that the acreage has decreased again in 2022."
