Column Pieter Vos: A real foothold for innovation

The BBB made a huge gain in the provincial elections. Numerous analyses followed in the media: what caused this monster victory? Whether you agree with them or not; I think above all they listened very carefully to the problems in the country, especially those surrounding the nitrogen file. 

Those problems are big. Everything is jammed: the farmers, the construction industry and also the nitrogen debate itself. Farms cannot expand, the power grid is full. Many farmers have invested heavily in innovations to ensure their livelihoods. They won't 'just recoup' those investments. More importantly, what is the outlook towards the future?

A key characteristic of problems is that they are uncomfortable. The uneasy feeling they give demands a solution. The current answer to the nitrogen problem seems to be a short-term solution: buying out major peak growers. Buying out farmers (read: destroying the farmer, his family, household and business) solves nothing. Nor does moving a barn to a location one and a half kilometres away, so that it is less close to a natura 2000 area. This problem cannot be washed away with a bag of money. 

But how can we make it easier? Are there no other ideas, I wonder. Innovation actually emerges from a need and a problem. Give that a chance. That should also happen in your company. Stop thinking in the short term. Give innovation and entrepreneurship a chance. Creativity gives solutions. Also for your company!

Pieter Vos
Director Nutrilab