According to Tike’s (Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) horticultural statistics for 2009, open-field vegetable production was exceptionally high. The berry crop was also good last year. The production of greenhouse vegetables returned to a normal level after breaking records in 2008. Flowering bulb production surged.

The consolidation of horticulture continued in 2009: the number of enterprises declined to 4,664 (-233 farms), while their area increased to 16,131 hectares (+12 ha) due to the growth in the area under open-field vegeta-bles.

Open-field vegetable production was exceptionally high in 2009, totalling 179 million kilos on 8,346 hectares. A total of 1,699 farms produced open-field vegetables. The major reason for the abundant crop was the good yield of the cultivated vegetables: the carrot crop was a recordbreaking 70 million kilos, and the white cabbage harvest was 5 million kilos greater than in 2008. The onion and gherkin crops also rose back to normal levels after a weaker year. In terms of cultivated area, the greatest decline was seen in onions (-69 ha), and the greatest increase in garden peas (+73 ha).

Area under strawberries grows after a long flat period

The 2009 berry crop was good, especially compared to 2008, when the currant crop in particular was at a record low. Berry production has undergone major structural changes, which now appear to have partly settled down. The area under berries totalled 6,218 hectares in 2009. The number of enterprises cultivating berries was 2,197 (-118). The area under strawberries grew for the first time since 1997, rising by 45 hectares compared to 2008 and amounting to a total of 3,270 hectares. At the same time, the number of enterprises cultivating strawberries declined by 95, and thus the average area under strawberries rose to 2.3 hectares. In the case of blackcurrants, both the cultivated area and number of enterprises declined substantially.

The long growth in apple acreages came to an end, but the area under fruit trees remained unchanged due to growth in other fruits. The apple harvest was on a par with the previous year at 4.3 million kilos. Nursery cultivation decreased by 23 hectares to 488 hectares. There were 184 nursery enterprises.

Greenhouse vegetable production returns to normal

The production of greenhouse vegetables returned to a normal level after breaking records in 2008. The crop amounted to 72 million kilos, of which 38 million kilos were tomatoes and 29 million kilos cucumbers. The greatest decrease was seen in the area under cucumbers, down 6,6 hectares to 68 hectares, but the decline was offset by a higher yield than in the previous years. Both the number of cucumber and tomato cultivators declined, but their average areas increased. On average, tomato farms have a slightly larger production area than enterprises growing cucumbers.

The production volumes of butter-head lettuce and speciality lettuce remained unchanged. In 2009, the cultivation of sweet peppers showed signs of picking up after a long flat period, with year-on-year growth in the number of enterprises, areas and crops. On the other hand, growth in the production of potgrown vegetables came to an end. Production amounted to slightly under 74 million units, down 1.8 million on the previous year.

Flowering bulb production surging

About 80 million flowering bulbs were grown in 2009, an increase of almost 29 million bulbs compared with 2000. Flowering bulb production has partly replaced cut flowers, particularly in the winter. Cut flower production continued to decline last year as well. The area under cut rose production contracted to less than 14 hectares. The changes in the production of other ornamental plants have been more moderate. About 10 million potted flowers and slightly over 44 million summer bedding flowers were produced last year.

Background to the statistics

Data for the horticultural statistics is collected once a year from all businesses that cultivate horticultural prod-ucts for sale. The survey conducted in October 2009 covered 5,091 enterprises. Statistical tables related to this press release are available from the Matilda agricultural statistics service: Horticultural Statistics. The data will also appear in the  Horticultural Statistics 2009 publication, which will be published in June and will also include regional information and maps.

For additional information

Actuary Anna-Kaisa Jaakkonen, tel. +358 (0)20 77 21 374
Assistant statistician Arja Anttila, tel. +358 (0)20 77 21 362

E-mail addresses are in the format forename.surname@mmmtike.fi