The New Paper AsiaOne 28 Feb 14;
SINGAPORE - The farm has emergency plans for floods, but not droughts.
So vegetables at the farm in Kranji Agri Vistahave died in the dry spell.
"Our pond is completely dry. In my 2½ years of owning this farm, I have not encountered anything like this," said its owner, Mr Derrick Ng, 33, an urban farmer.
"We have to stop growing vegetables because they need too much water," he added.
Previously, his farm had been beset by frequent flooding as it is in a low-lying area. Now, a flood sounds more like a blessing than a curse.
CREATIVE SOLUTIONS
Mr Ng has turned to creative solutions to combat the dry spell. He has switched to growing corn, melons and gourds, which require relatively little water.
He also covers his fields with black plastic to slow the evaporation of water from the soil, and has deepened his pond in preparation for the day when it rains again.
Despite his efforts, Mr Ng said his profits had "definitely been affected" because revenue from growing vegetables was formerly the mainstay of his earnings.
For now, he can only hope that the 1.6m-deep pond, about the size of a basketball court, which is his key source of irrigation, will soon be refilled by rainfall.
This farm has to use portable water for its plants
The New Paper AsiaOne 28 Feb 14;
SINGAPORE - It is the worst dry spell he has seen since setting up his plant nursery 14 years ago, said the owner of Sunny Horticulture, at Neo Tiew Crescent.
The 51-year-old, who wanted only to be known as Mr Ng, said that the dry spell has affected many businesses in the area, including his.
Even the pond inside the nursery which is used to collect rainwater to water his plants has nearly dried up.
Mr Ng said that after two bouts of heavy rain, the pond would be filled up and the water could be used to water the plants for a month.
"We usually use rainwater to water the plants," said Mr Ng.
NO CHOICE
Now, he has no choice but to turn on his taps 24 hours a day to ensure that the plants in his nursery are adequately watered.
The potted plants need to be watered daily or they will die.
But Mr Ng feels it is a waste of money to water the plants with potable water.
"It's not economical and not very efficient. Doing this is a last resort," he said.
He added that while his potted plants are doing well so far, he fears that they will die and his business will go bust if the dry spell persists.
"Even the grass outside is dying, so my potted plants are sure to die," Mr Ng lamented.
There's nothing to croak about
The New Paper AsiaOne 28 Feb 14;
SINGAPORE - For the water-loving frogs at Jurong Frog Farm, the past few months have not been the most pleasant.
The dry weather means that the farm's water supply is fast dwindling.
As a result, the 1.2ha farm at Lim Chu Kang has started using water from the PUB for the first time in 20 years.
A 13m-deep well, which supplies the farm's water needs, is drying up. The well collects rainwater and it used to be filled to the brim.
Said farm manager Chelsea Wan: "I'm not sure how much more it (the water bill) will cost for now, but this dry spell will definitely raise our costs."
The farm supplies American bullfrogs, frog legs, hashima (frog fallopian tubes) and fish locally.
TADPOLES
It has been trying to increase its production of frogs by raising them from tadpoles, but it has not been so successful this year.
"We started raising the tadpoles since the middle of last year and it was quite successful at first because it was raining a lot," said Miss Wan.
In the past months, however, the tadpoles have been growing at a slower rate.
"We reduced the feeding portions so that the water wouldn't be contaminated and we wouldn't have to change the water so often," she explained.
Some frogs are also kept in air-conditioned rooms.
Water is of utmost importance for frogs because they breathe through their skin, which is moist.
"We have also stopped mating frogs and will wait until the dry spell is over," said Miss Wan.
Landscape firms and farms feel the blues
Kash Cheong The Straits Times 3 Mar 14;
SINGAPORE - As a rare spell of dry weather here persists, grass has turned brown and farmers and landscapers are feeling the blues.
Farmers are turning to tap water as their reservoirs run out quickly, but this also means higher utility costs.
"There is no rain water to replenish our reservoirs, they are almost dry," said Mr Alan Toh, 50, director of Yili Vegetation & Trading in Kranji. "We need to mix tap water with existing reservoir water to water our plants."
His vegetables - including caixin and xiao bai cai - need to be watered more often to ensure they survive. But this has raised his utilities costs by about 40 per cent in the last month.
"We have to cut back production," said Mr Toh, whose farm can produce up to nine tonnes of vegetables a month. "If this continues, how will farmers survive?"
Nearby plot Farm 85 is in the same bind. "None of us wants to use tap water - it's expensive. But in this case, we have no choice," said owner Tan Koon Hua, 45.
The water situation is so dire that farmers from the Kranji Countryside Association (KCA) met PUB representatives yesterday to ask for help.
The national water agency offered them non-potable water, or untreated water, at 25 cents per cubic m, excluding transportation. While this is much cheaper than potable water, farmers said this did not help.
"We thank PUB for their generosity, but when you add in trucking costs for the water, the solution is just not feasible," said Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim, chairman of the KCA, which represents nearly 40 farms in the Lim Chu Kang area.
She hopes PUB can waive fees such as the water conservation tax instead for the time being.
Landscaping businesses too are feeling the heat.
At Island Landscape & Nursery, workers have been scrambling to water the plants in condominiums and private gardens where it has projects. It sees operating costs rising by about 20 per cent but will "do its best to cope", said senior manager of production Bipin Krishna.
The dry weather may mean withering bottom lines for some, but a few bright spots remain.
"My mango tree, frangipani and bougainvillea are flowering like crazy. They like dry heat," said Mrs Singh-Lim.
The weather has also led to "unusually heavy" flowering among yellow flame trees in Singapore, said Nature Society president Shawn Lum.
Chairman of the Landscape Industry Association (Singapore) John Tan hopes landscape firms will share water resources.
"The Met service says the dry weather would persist into the first half of March. We are praying for a miracle," he said.
