New agriculture land for food farming in Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Tengah will be released for tender from August 2017. A total of 36 plots of farm land spanning 60 hectares will be tendered out. The plots will be tendered on 20-year leases instead of the previous 10-year blocks.
To urge farmers to raise their productivity, these tenders will adopt new land tender methods that emphasise more on productivity gains, rather than land price alone.
For leafy vegetables, fish, beansprouts and quail eggs farming, the new farm land will be tendered using a fixed price method – the land price is already fixed – taking into account the chief valuer’s valuation, and farmers will compete purely on their tender proposal.
Criteria that farming companies will be assessed on include their production capability, track record, relevant experience and qualification, as well as ability to use innovation to improve and sustain production and maintain business viability.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) recognises that some farmers may not be familiar with putting up tender proposals based on concepts, as farm land tenders have traditionally been based just on price, so it will conduct advisory sessions on the drafting of tender proposals before every tender launch. Some criteria farming companies will be assessed on include their production capability, track record, relevant experience and qualification, as well as ability to use innovation to improve and sustain production and maintain business viability.
When interviewed, Group CEO of food fish farm Apollo Aquaculture Group, Eric Ng, said that there have been construction firms that outbid farmers for farm land and use them for illegal landfill and dumping purposes, depriving farmers of production grounds. This tender method can prevent occurrence of land misuse in land scarce Singapore. He also thinks that the tender method will ease farmers’ concerns about competition from foreign companies with deeper pockets, because all the parties will compete only on skills and know-how.
The fixed price tender method has been met with approval from local farmers.
Singapore still imports most of its food. Locally-farmed vegetables, eggs and fish contributed to only 12 per cent, 24 per cent and 10 per cent of Singaporeans’ consumption, respectively in 2016.
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Source: The Business Times, 12 May 2017