It’s incredible what can grow on 2,000 square meters: tons of avocados, tomatoes, cabbage, wheat, or potatoes. Definitely more than you could ever eat in a year. However, yields vary greatly depending on the location, the weather that year, and the cultivation method. The example of tomato yields shows that the highest yields are found in northern countries, because there, cultivation takes place in greenhouses and is no longer subject to seasonal variations. Nevertheless, most tomatoes in Europe come from Italy and Spain.
Very high yields per square meter are often the result of particularly high use of energy, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. So growing as much as possible in the smallest possible space isn’t necessarily environmentally friendly.
The huge differences in yield per hectare—especially for vegetables—do not mean that Belgium is more fertile than Italy. [9]
