Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia 3 Aug 09;
SINGAPORE: As concerns about food safety increase, more is being done to promote local farming.
Singapore wants to bump up its local supply of greens from 7 to 10 per cent of overall supply and to do so in a land scarce country, the solution is science.
Seed plug technology, which involves growing seeds in a controlled environment with automated irrigation, is going to be more widely used.
Wong Hon Mun, deputy director, Food & Veterinary Admin, Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), said: "As you are growing your vegetables, you are also growing your seeds, so by the time you harvest your vegetables, your seedlings are ready for transplanting."
This way, farms can grow 12 crops a year instead of the current nine. Presently, 19,000 tonnes of vegetables are produced in Singapore every year.
Singapore has 110.2 hectares of land in the Agrotechnology Parks for the cultivation of vegetable produce, of which some 87.6 hectares are used solely for soil cultivation of vegetables, while the rest are for hydroponics cultivation, production of bean sprouts and mushrooms.
Besides vegetables, Singapore also wants to be more self sufficient in its fish supply by aiming to almost quadruple the current amount in five years. The Marine Aquaculture Centre is looking at a process called selective breeding to increase the supply of fish here.
The 105 fish farms in Singapore are also working together to improve efficiency and increase supply. They have formed a cooperative which will sell their fish to local supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice.
Malcolm Ong, managing director, Metropolitan Fishery Group, said: "We can get supplies in bulk and this could be translated to better prices for the consumer."
Shoppers will also get fresher fish, as the time needed from the net to the supermarket rack is less than 24 hours.
To support local farming, FairPrice is launching a Local Farmed Fish and Seafood Fair this week. Six varieties of locally farmed fish will be sold during this fair and they will be available at 45 FairPrice supermarkets across the island.
FairPrice introduced the locally farmed Grey Mullet and Milk Fish at some of its stores in May this year. Sales have increased by more than 20 per cent since then.
- CNA/938LIVE/so
