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KWIN: the best book about Dutch greenhouse horticulture
The KWIN (Quantitative Information) is famous. Already in 1983 the first edition of this bulky book about the greenhouse horticulture was published. The KWIN contains quantities and prices of, among other things, sustainable means of production, labor, energy, production and sales of Dutch horticulture, of more than 100 crops or business configurations. This spring, the Greenhouse Horticulture Business Unit of Wageningen University & Research is publishing the twenty-sixth edition of KWIN.
The origin of the KWIN was issued by the joint Dutch test stations. WUR has since taken over the task. The data comes in part from energy and production models. In addition, a large group of growers and advisers from the various crops are asked to cooperate.
The topics relate to different levels. At the European and national level it is about trends in the areas per sector. Production and operating costs are discussed at company level. This includes labor, energy, fertilization, crop protection, plant material, packaging and sales. Also the interest and depreciation of sustainable means of production are displayed.
Interesting calculations can be made with all that information. Part of it is standard in the KWIN. Examples are production (in kilograms or in pieces) per square meter/per period and cost price per unit of product. In addition, the KWIN also specifies the footprint per product (the environmental impact).
This information and calculations are interesting for various parties, such as banks, insurers, consulting firms and investing entrepreneurs. Moreover, trends and developments can be searched for over a longer period of time. The comparison of several KWINs, for example, shows that thanks to higher production per m2, the cost price for many products has hardly changed in recent years despite the higher costs per m2.