Quinoa and NPEC in EenVandaag

EenVandaag features WUR’s Robert van Loo discussing the impact of climate change on crop diversity in the Netherlands, highlighting innovations in local cultivation of crops like quinoa.

On Wednesday April 17, Robert van Loo appeared in a news item in Eenvandaag on climate change and new crops, among others quinoa. Researcher Robert van Loo follows the work of farmers like Klaas and Djûke with interest. “You really see people trying everything. Grape growing for wine, soy, wasabi, tea and mangoes.” “The climate is really shifting and the weather has become much more erratic. We see that sometimes we have a very early spring so that we can sow at the end of March and other times we have a very wet spring and then we have to wait until the first week of May.”

“Dutch quinoa: As a plant researcher at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Van Loo also experiments with exotic crops such as quinoa, a grain from the Andes. “In South America, quinoa was used thousands of years ago by the indigenous people there. It tastes good and has become very popular, also in Europe.” Due to the increasing popularity of the grain, he started researching a European variant. “We made crosses with other quinoas. Ultimately we made a variant that is adapted to Northwestern Europe. And it is now grown in the Netherlands by dozens of farmers. So, you can now buy Dutch quinoa.”

• You can view the item on NPO Start (Dutch news television). The item starts at 20 minutes 19 seconds.
• Here you can listen to the radio interview in Dutch on this topic.