LK Vienna President “Energy costs are exploding – horticultural businesses urgently need inflation compensation” ‹ Fruchtportal

02. May 2022

“As a result of the Ukraine war, gardeners of vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants in particular now have to face enormous price increases for both energy sources and agricultural raw materials and goods. Energy costs have almost tripled with an increase of 180% and together with the serious price increase for fertiliser, crop protection and other consumables, this leads to production cost increases in horticulture of up to 70 percent, depending on the crop,” says Vienna Chamber of Agriculture President Franz Windisch .

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“We call on the public sector to take immediate measures to make our businesses resilient. They now urgently need inflation compensation to counteract the enormous cost development in order to continue to reliably deliver the best quality for the people of Vienna. So “As important as the inflation package presented by the federal government is for the population, rapid steps are also vital for the energy-intensive horticultural businesses. The measures could start immediately, because the EU has already prepared the necessary framework conditions for this”, demanded LK Vienna President Franz Windisch own resilience plan for Vienna’s vegetable, flower and ornamental plant growing companies.

Immediate measures for horticulture

“Our companies now need the necessary support measures,” says Windisch.

Further measures for the future

“But it’s not just about short-term relief measures, we have to do everything we can to quickly become independent of fossil fuels such as natural gas. For this we need a special investment program for joint “deep geothermal” systems and for expanded local heating networks,” added Windisch.

Urgent appeal to food retailers

“In the horticulturally relevant EU member states of the Netherlands and France, extensive cost reduction packages are currently being put together for their companies. For example, the Netherlands will reduce VAT on energy, such as natural gas, electricity and district heating, from 21% to 9% for six months from July 1st. If Austria does not act quickly here, there will be distortions of competition on the domestic market, which will put additional pressure on our regional production. The food trade is also called upon to show their colors in the spirit of our gardeners, even if their first-class products are a little more expensive. If regionality is not to degenerate into lip service, it is important to rely on domestic quality and not on cheap products from abroad, even under difficult overall conditions,” concluded Windisch.

Those: wien.lko.at/Vienna Chamber of Agriculture

Release date: 05/02/2022

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