Rising prices of imports, food safety fears fuelling increased production
Jessica Lim, Straits Times 12 Dec 08;
EVERY day, vegetable farmer Wong Kok Fah spends six hours harvesting vegetables at his 5ha farm in Sungei Tengah. His daily yield - 2 tonnes of leafy greens like cai xin and kai lan - is sold to supermarkets and provision stores the next day.
It is something Mr Wong, 47, has been doing every day since he was a boy, but in the past, he harvested only 1.5 tonnes a day.
'Now, people are buying a lot. I cannot grow enough vegetables,' said the owner of Kok Fah Technology, who has seen demand go up by 30 per cent compared to last year.
The increased overall local food production - consisting mainly of vegetables and eggs - tells the story: Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority figures show that vegetable production in Singapore stood at 19,027 tonnes last year, up from 17,397 tonnes in 2005.
Singapore has also increased production of eggs by 29 million a year since 2005, with the total hitting 373 million eggs last year.
The spiralling prices of vegetable and egg imports, coupled with food safety concerns due to the rising number of diseases spread by food, are the main reasons for the growth of the 'buy local' movement, said farmers who spoke to The Straits Times.
In the past three months, imports of these products from Malaysia - which is the main supplier of eggs and vegetables to Singapore - have as much as doubled due to tighter supply.
'All this means that the price gap between imported vegetables and eggs (and home-grown ones) has narrowed to about 10 per cent,' said Mr Jimmy Kong, 34, who operates a stall at a Serangoon wet market. 'Two years ago, it was about 30 per cent.'
Local farms are making moves to meet this increased demand.
This year, Kok Fah Technology hired 12 more workers and expanded its farming area by 20 per cent.
Six months ago, Quan FA Vegetarian Farm moved from its 1.4ha spot in Lim Chu Kang to another almost twice that size nearby. Since then, production has increased to 5 tonnes a month, from 3.5 tonnes monthly in 2005.
Major egg producer Seng Choon Farm is in talks with the Government to expand. 'We sell about 300,000 eggs daily and we definitely want to increase productivity,' said Seng Choon's manager Koh Yeow Koon in Mandarin.
Cold Storage reported a 20 per cent increase in sales of local vegetables and eggs this year compared to last year.
At NTUC FairPrice, sales of local eggs went up 5 per cent, while that of local vegetables went up 10 per cent.
At Sheng Siong, 10 per cent more local vegetables were sold this year compared to last year.
FairPrice has increased the variety of local greens on its shelves - from 12 types three years ago to 17 types available now.
Sheng Siong has done the same, with seven types of green vegetables available now, up from four last year. 'The time lag from harvest to shelf is shorter for local fare, so they last longer. That is an advantage,' said a Sheng Siong spokesman.
The increased demand, said Singapore Polytechnic retail management lecturer Sarah Lim, is due to more locals 'looking beyond price', a phenomenon 'typical of an increasingly affluent society'.
'But if the price differential is very great,' she added, 'people will probably choose the cheaper product.'
This seems to be the case for Madam Phua Shu Qing, 44, who started inquiring about the origin of vegetables at wet markets about six months ago.
The mother of two said: 'I try to buy more home-grown veggies if prices are not too high. They are usually fresher and I know they are safe to eat.'
