They are the 2nd largest exporter of food with just 17M population and have maximized the yield per acre on many types of vegetables, cereals and flowers. What is so unique about their climate and canal system that it can’t be exported as a model to other countries?
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1) As mentioned by others, this is agricultural *value*, not amount of food. The Netherlands grows small amounts of very expensive stuff (esp. vegetables, meat, and milk).
2) The Netherlands’s biggest export is *flowers*, about 10% of their total. Flowers are the ultimate high-value agricultural product, and importantly, they are not food.
3) Not yet mentioned: this figure includes *re-exports*. The Netherlands host Europe’s biggest ports. About [25% of their exports](https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/report/downloadreportbyfilename?filename=Exporter%20Guide_The%20Hague_Netherlands_2-13-2019.pdf) are re-exports, stuff like tropical fruits and chocolate, which come in to Rotterdam and Schiphol before being shipped off to France and Germany. The Netherlands didn’t grow them, they just took them off a boat and put them on a truck.
In short, the value of ag exports is a terrible way to measure the food production of a country.
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