Fewer growers are working the country’s ever-expanding flower bulb fields, the national statistic office CBS reported on Thursday.

The area used for growing flower bulbs reached 26,000 hectares in 2017, an 18% increase over 2000. Tulips were the largest single category, covering half of the total bulb growing area.  But the number of tulip growers shrank by 47% in the same period, the CBS said.

The areas devoted to raising lilies expanded by 27%, while that used for hyacinths was 25% larger. As with tulips, there were fewer growers.

The expansion of the tulip fields was partly at the expense of other sorts of flower bulbs such as gladioli and narcissus, which fell by 30% and 19% respectively in the 2000-2017 period.