A new and leading role for Dutch agriculture was highlighted at the official opening of VIV Europe 2026.
Welcoming guests at the opening ceremony, His Royal Highness Prince Carlos, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, noted that the country had the technology, the innovations and the infrastructure to work in partnership to build a new a new, sustainable economy around the ultimate connection – food.
He argued that we are living in a world of crisis, but that from this crisis new solutions can arise.
By way of example, he pointed to the Dutch famine that occurred at the end of the Second World War that resulted in the death of 20,000 people. The Dutch government vowed that this should never happen again and, to ensure this, it radically changed the food system.
If brought about modernization of the Dutch agricultural sector, consolidating agricultural holdings and encouraging education. The government launched the Mansholt Plan in 1968 – the same year that VIV first took place, and by 1974 the place was complete.
While this change may have transformed the Netherlands into an agricultural powerhouse, it came at a terrible price – loss of biodiversity and soil degradation, amongst other impacts.
The prince noted that these impacts were caused primarily by one man – Minister Mansholt, before asking attendees to imagine the good that could now be achieved by all of the industry working together with the technologies that are available today. Cities and countryside can work in harmony, and the Netherlands can lead the way in sustainable food production.
Changing format
The agricultural industry is changing fast. To better reflect this VIV Europe is changing from a four-year to a two-year cycle, its organizers have announced, adding that, at a global level, it is not simply a series of trade shows, but a global network catering to individual local needs and supporting the industry at various levels.
