Narcissus and Daffodil

Production of Narcissus bulbs 55
Table 4.2 Areas (ha) of field-grown Narcissus in the UK and the Netherlands
1988 a 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
UK b 3826 3961 3972 3702 3943 4048 3830 4334 3993 3936 3808
Netherlands c 1763 1799 1652 1533 1343 1350 1406 1496 1517 1574 1756
Notes
a 1988 means 1988–1989, etc.
b MAFF (1999a), 1998 figure provisional.
c PVS/BKD (1993), PT/BKD (1999), 1998 figure provisional.
weight increase from planting to lifting (say 150%); disposable yield is the yield
after taking out the weight required as re-planting stock. This gives an annual disposable
bulb output of about 30 000 tonnes for both the UK and the Netherlands.
A tonne of narcissus bulbs typically contains about 20 000 ‘medium sized’ bulbs.
Narcissus bulbs are sold as commercial planting stocks, for commercial bulb
forcing, for amenity or landscape use, and for retail sales either loose or in ‘prepacks’,
the last involving garden centres, multiple retailers, mail order and other
outlets. In England and Wales, commercial bulb forcing currently accounts for
over 4000 tonnes of narcissus bulbs (about 80 million bulbs) annually (MAFF,
1999b). The prices of narcissus bulbs may change markedly over periods of a few
years, and there is an interplay between the price of bulbs and flowers, the areas of
field-grown crops from which flower crops are taken, and the number of bulbs
used for forcing. In the UK, recent trends have increased the significance of cutflowers
taken from field-grown crops and have resulted in fewer bulbs being
forced. When bulb prices are favourable, bulbs used for forcing may be re-claimed
and planted back in the field. Bouwman (1993) described a simulation model for
the supply and demand of bulbs: on the demand side there was a relationship
between price asked and quantity demanded, and, on the supply side, between
price asked and acreage grown. The economic aspects of narcissus bulb production
are considered in Chapter 5 of this volume.
Bulb growing areas in the main producing countries
In England and Wales, some two-thirds of the field-grown narcissus are grown in
eastern England (Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire) and much of the
remainder in the south-west, in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Census figures for
1998 give the following areas for bulb and outdoor flower crops (predominantly
narcissus) of 2016 ha (south Lincolnshire), 463 ha (Norfolk), 364 ha (Cambridgeshire)
and 1472 ha (Cornwall and Isles of Scilly), out of a total of 5325 ha (MAFF
Statistics Branch, personal communication). For narcissus alone, it is now (1999)
considered that some 50% of the production in England and Wales is in the eastern
counties, and 40% in the south-west, with a gradual shift towards the latter
(J.B. Briggs, personal communication). South Lincolnshire is an area with strong
historical links to the Netherlands, evidenced, for example, by the district name
‘South Holland’. The area is characterised by large fields, extensively mechanised
agriculture, and the efficient production of cereals, potatoes and vegetables as well
as narcissus bulbs, a logical development as there is scope for sharing equipment