More Dutch arable farmers are turning to onions as a cash group, with the provinces of Zeeland and Flevoland losing ground to the rest of the country.

In 2000 the two provinces were responsible for 70% of the Dutch onion crop, but that has now gone down to 45% as Groningen, Drenthe and Noord-Brabant step in, national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday.

At the same time, the rise in popularity of red onions, which need more land to grow, is reducing the number of onions produced per hectare.

Compared with 2000, the number of hectares devoted to onions has almost doubled to 27,400. That makes onions the fifth most popular arable crop behind maize, potatoes, wheat and sugar beet.