Government gives €20m for sustainable greenhouses

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture has launched a call for projects from those interested in building greenhouses for commercial food production.

“Luxembourg produces too few vegetables and fruits,” the ministry said in a press release introducing the scheme that is open to existing farmers only, with an application deadline of 31 March 2026.

Commercial greenhouses have long been considered an eyesore in Luxembourg, Manuel Arrillaga, co-founder of Fësch Haff, a technology company seeking to transform food production in Luxembourg, told the Luxembourg Times in summer 2024. Farmers and politicians, he said, had long resisted building greenhouses.

That could be about to change, Agriculture Minister Martine Hansen said, calling on existing farmers to submit projects to produce more fruit and vegetables for financial support.

The call concerns the construction and operation of horticultural greenhouses in the Grand Duchy, with grant money on offer for the building costs, irrigation installations, heat production installations, post-harvest handling (sorting, washing, grading, etc.) as well as product packaging equipment. Processing activities are excluded from the scope of the aid, however. A total of €20 million in funding is available.

Commercial greenhouses are expensive, and the number of projects that benefit could vary widely, as the total cost of each successful applicant must be over €1 million and less than €12 million, of which 40% will be covered by the grant. An extra 15% is on offer for young farmers who make successful applications.

Success will depend on proving the environmental, economic and social sustainability of an applicant’s proposed project.

The proposal was first discussed by the parliamentary agricultural committee as early as December 2024.