Page 21 - Green knowledge 2025

Photo: Hege Ulfeng
New maps reveal Norway’s veggie potential
New, detailed maps from NIBIO show where in the country it is best to grow carrots,
beans, and lettuce. The maps reveal a considerable potential for increasing Norwegian
vegetable production, both on cereal areas and grassland.
“These are Norway’s most detailed maps for showing
natural growing conditions for vegetables. They pro-
vide a solid knowledge base for the entire value
chain, from the idea of growing a crop to it reaching
the shop shelves,” says Siri Svendgård-Stokke, Head
of Department at NIBIO.
The maps are based on updated climate data, soil
information and a new terrain model. NIBIO has
mapped around 60 percent of Norway’s fully
­ cultivated land, with detailed information on soil
type, stone content and drainage needs. The vegeta-
ble maps show the areas best suited for different
crops, and which soil and terrain properties may
pose challenges.
Steep land, or areas with high stone and gravel
­ content, are poorly suited to efficient vegetable pro-
duction – as are very small plots. Even so, large areas
now used for cereals and grass could have been used
for vegetables.
Analyses show that only 0.8 percent of Norway’s
fully cultivated land is used for vegetables today,
even though far larger areas have favourable condi-
tions. For beans, which need a long season, over
600,000 decares have good natural conditions –
almost ten times today’s total open-field vegetable
area.
“It is incredibly valuable that we now have detailed
maps showing the potential for Norwegian vegetable
production. The next step is motivating people to
choose healthier, greener diets,” says NIBIO
researcher Anna Birgitte Milford.
Even with good growing conditions, the market
remains a bottleneck. Profitable production requires
buyers.
Purpose: Collaboration: Funding: Contact: To provide a knowledge base for increasing vegetable production in Norway through detailed
opportunity maps for vegetables.
The Norwegian Agricultural Advisory Service and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. BAMA
Gruppen AS, Gartnerhallen AS and Felleskjøpet have also contributed input to the work.
The Research Council of Norway
Head of Department Siri Svendgård-Stokke, Division of Survey and Statistics.
Email: siri.svendgard-stokke@nibio.no | Tel: +47 478 14 011.
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