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AsiaOne
2 days ago
- Business
- AsiaOne
'A transitional phase': Food security expert not worried by drop in local production of vegetables and seafood, Singapore News
The challenges facing Singapore's agriculture sector — which have led in a dip in local production of vegetables and seafood — reflect a transitional phase for local farms, a food security expert told AsiaOne on Friday (June 6). Professor William Chen, director of the Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Food Science and Technology Programme, added that it is still "premature" to deem the Government's goal of producing 30 per cent of the country's nutritional needs locally by 2030 a failure. On Thursday, a report released by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) showed that just three per cent of the vegetables consumed in Singapore were grown locally, down from 3.2 per cent in 2023 and 3.9 the year before. Local production of seafood dropped from 7.3 per cent in 2023 to 6.1 per cent in 2024, which SFA attributed in its Singapore Food Statistics report that it is partly due to the "restructuring of a few fish farms in Singapore". Prof Chen said while the findings from SFA's report looks "disappointing", he sees several positive signs which are encouraging to the sector. Local production of eggs increased by 13 per cent in 2024. The three farms in Singapore produced 34.4 per cent of all eggs consumed in 2024, up from 31.9 per cent. Prof Chen's echoed SFA's observation that the increase is due to farm upgrades and improve operational efficiencies. "We've been (producing eggs) since the late '60s, and over the years we have gone through technological adoption and integration… and now we only have three egg farms but we produced so much more eggs," he said. Like eggs, vegetables saw an increase in productivity in 2024 — from 227.2 tonnes per hectare per year in 2023 to 231.4 tonnes per hectare per year in 2024. Seafood productivity also saw an increase of 38.6 tonnes per hectare per year in 2023 to 40.7 tonnes per hectare per year in 2024. While overall output has declined, Prof Chen noted that the increased efficiency in local vegetable and seafood production is an "encouraging" development. "The number of farms is lower over the years, but the willingness to adopt technology is higher," he said. "What we see now is a transition… we must let go some traditional practices to free up space for new players with higher level of technology readiness." Speaking to the media, Damian Chan, chief executive of SFA, said that the broad plan for the sector is to focus not on the number of farms in Singapore, but on ensuring that farms can be productive and financially viable. This is done through the $60 million Agri-food Cluster Transformation Fund, which will help farms adopt technologies such as advanced, automated farming equipment and infrastructure. "High productivity farming is still a nascent sector in Singapore and globally as well. So it needs more time to develop, mature and for our farms to evolve their business models to make it more economically viable for them," said Chan. 'Too early' to write off 30 by 30 goal Since 2019, Singapore has had an ambitious "30 by 30" goal yesterday to produce 30 per cent of Singapore's nutritional needs locally by 2030. But in March, then Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon said that the target is being reviewed. While local food production in 2024 made up less than 10 per cent of total demand, Prof Chen said it is still too early to write off the Government's plan for the sector. External factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, have disrupted the global supply chain, he added. "So, if we look at everything as a whole, we are only talking about two, three years of progress," said Prof Chen. He added that, just like how egg production in Singapore took years to bear fruit, the Government's plans on leveraging technology in local farms take time to be economically viable. "The number is there as a goal, to align people together. It's not for people to come back and question, 'how come we could not make it right?'" [[nid:718214]] chingshijie@
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Plan in place to help local farms produce more, stay financially viable: SFA chief
SINGAPORE - High-tech agriculture is a nascent sector globally , and as Singapore ventures into this area, work is under way to address some of the challenges faced by local farms, said Mr Damian Chan, chief executive of the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). In his first interview since he took on the role as head of the SFA in May 2024, Mr Chan on May 29 said he was aware of the pains faced by the sector, which has seen a spate of closures and reduced production levels for vegetables and seafood. He also outlined an overarching strategy to help boost local production, which includes opening up new farm spaces, efforts to ensure a healthy supply of baby fish for farms to grow, and ensuring that every harvest is consistently sold to shore up farms' revenue. He was speaking to local media ahead of the release of the food statistics on June 5, which found that the local production of vegetables and seafood had dipped in 2024, although egg farms continue to do well. Singapore's main strategy to safeguard food security is to diversify its food sources by importing from 187 countries and regions. But local production, which now makes up less than 10 per cent of the country's total food consumption, is also considered a critical buffer to supply shocks. There had initially been efforts to increase local production to 30 per cent of demand by 2030, but recent headwinds – such as reduced investor interest and higher electricity prices – have prompted a review of this goal. Said Mr Chan, 52: 'High productivity farming is still a nascent sector in Singapore and globally as well. So it needs more time to develop, mature and for our farms to evolve their business models to make it more economically viable for them.' He added: 'My focus then is on having more farms, which are financially sustainable and productive. Priority is problem-solving, helping the farms, which are committed and capable.' Mr Chan said that in general, the broad plan is to focus not on the number of farms in Singapore but to ensure that farms can be productive and financially viable. The Government is helping farms to achieve this by, for example, extending funding support to help farms adopt technologies such as advanced, automated farming equipment and infrastructure. This is done through the $60 million Agri-food Cluster Transformation Fund, which had its scope recently expanded to cover marketing expenses and pre- and post-harvest facilities. The Government will also open up more land and sea spaces for farms that can be financially viable, he said. For example, the SFA will soon be releasing new land tenders in Sungei Tengah and Lim Chu Kang that can be used for either aquaculture or vegetable farming, he added. The agency also plans to open up more aquaculture spaces in the East Johor Strait from 2026, with a target of raising production of seafood there to up to 6,700 tonnes annually – almost twice the 3,500 tonnes produced in Singapore in 2024 . Farm land currently makes up only about 1 per cent of the country's land area. At a broader level, plans for a 390ha high-tech agri-food hub in Lim Chu Kang was announced in 2020. It was reported in late 2024 that this Lim Chu Kang masterplan, as well as construction work for the neighbouring Agri-Food Innovation Park was delayed . Asked for updates on this, Mr Chan would only say this was a priority area for the SFA and it is looking into how best to implement the project . Another pain point the Government has sought to address is the high rate of fish mortalities in local farms, caused by low-quality baby fish – or fingerlings – sourced from overseas. Fingerlings from abroad may carry diseases and be of inconsistent quality, worsened by their long journey to Singapore. Mortalities here can reach 80 per cent due to the inconsistent qualities of eggs and fingerlings. To prevent such losses, several aquaculture players have long called for a local supply of young fish that are fast-growing and genetically superior. In late 2024, SFA announced the National Broodstock Centres for Asian seabass and marine tilapia, where the young fishes will be bred. Certified hatcheries will then rear the newly hatched fishes and sell the fingerlings to farms. 'Increasing their grow-out rate and reducing mortality will make significant differences to the competitiveness of our aquaculture farms,' said Mr Chan. Finally, for farms to remain financially viable, they must also have buyers ready to purchase their produce. This is because local farms are competing against cheaper imports. 'It is definitely not as easy as just grow and you can sell,' said Mr Chan. He advised farms to talk to large customers, such as supermarkets, restaurant chains and food manufacturers to negotiate long-term partnerships. He also stressed the need for farms to come together and sell their produce under a common brand to attract larger retailers. This will then help the farms achieve economies of scale and widen their market share. 'Many of the large (customers) I talked to, they tell SFA that most farms outside of the egg farms are not large enough to provide necessary quantities to them, and they cannot be talking to a multitude of small farms,' Mr Chan noted. In one initiative, the Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (Safef) started two brands to sell leafy greens and tilapia from a bloc of local farms. Chye sim, lettuce and xiao bai cai, for example, were selling at $1.78 for 200g. As at February 2025, sales in FairPrice increased about fivefold for the xiao bai cai, and twofold for the tilapia. How to strengthen the four pillars – providing farms with funding support, ensuring sales of local produce, increasing farming spaces and quality of baby fish – will be looked into during the review on the 30 by 30 goal, added Mr Chan. He took over SFA in May 2024 after a decades-long career at the Economic Development Board (EDB). Before leaving EDB, he was its executive vice-president who oversaw planning and policy in several areas including agri-food and environmental sustainability. Asked how his years at EDB had shaped his perception of the local farming sector, Mr Chan said the experience gave him a 'problem-solving mindset' to uncover challenges faced by a sector and develop solutions for them. At EDB, Mr Chan said he often took an industry-wide view of a sector. But at SFA, he often has to work with individual farms. Mr Chan said: 'EDB looks at industries which sell to the region, or globally. The agri-food sector is one which, at least today, is still primarily selling to the domestic Singapore market. And, of course, it's one which is fragmented. You have many small players. 'So that's where really understanding the problems of the farm at the industry level, and also at the farm-specific level, is critical. I'd like to assure them that we will look and continue to... provide them with more targeted support along the value chain.' Shabana Begum is a correspondent, with a focus on environment and science, at The Straits Times. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
