Despite enjoying its status as one of the world’s richest countries, Singapore heavily relies on overseas food imports to reduce food insecurity. Being a small island nation where land is scarce, Singapore is unable to provide her population with an agricultural food supply chain. Being NTU’s biggest environmental group, we organised the Gardening Straits Agriculture Farm Tour on 4th November 2023 at D’ Arena’s Strait Agriculture to better understand sustainable farming methods such as waste management and compost recycling that can be further practiced at the Yunnan Corner Gardening site.
Our tour was hosted by none other than Mr. Teo who is the founder of Straits Agriculture. Remarkedly, Mr. Teo while still being an undergraduate at NTU founded Straits Agriculture to grow healthier and tastier produce through the experimentation of new technology while juggling his studies. His sheer passion and dedication serve as a beacon of inspiration for young Singaporeans.
Starting off the farm tour, Mr. Teo explained the concept of Aeroponics – a plant-cultivation technique in which the roots hang suspended in the air while a nutrient solution is delivered to them in the form of a fine mist. Aeroponics stands out as an efficient agricultural method as it requires less land while generating a higher yield of vegetables than traditional agricultural approaches.
Following Mr. Teo’s insightful sharing session, participants were broken up into two groups: one group observed the delicate harvesting procedures while the other group embarked on a comprehensive tour of Straits Agriculture.
While harvesting the aeroponically cultivated vegetables, participants are taught the proper technique to harvest to minimize damage to the delicate produce. After this, the harvested vegetables undergo screening to screen out any pathogenic bacteria that may be present in the vegetables. This stage is critical to maintain the quality of vegetables and to safeguard the public health of consumers. Vegetables may then be further trimmed and packaged according to the weight and amount specified by sellers.
While touring Straits Agriculture, participants were amazed at the vast abundance of different species of vegetables that are present in the greenhouse. This highlights the suitability and adaptability of a wide range of species to the highly efficient aeroponics cultivation. Participants were also given a chance to try out the fresh vegetables produced by Straits Agriculture which many described as being as fresh as traditionally cultivated vegetables. This has left a lasting impression among participants on the success of aeroponics cultivation on a small scale, with many developing a keen interest in the development of aeroponics cultivation in Singapore on a much grander scale in the future.
The tour then concluded with a Questions and Answers session with Mr. Teo. During the Q&A session, many participants expressed interest by seeking out insights into the steps of starting out a business in the agriculture field. An important aspect that was brought out by Mr. Teo is the reliance on automation in dispersing water and nutrients to the vegetables to minimise labor costs. Through this tour, our participants were allowed to gain exposure to innovative practices and key considerations in the agriculture industry. Earthlink NTU hopes that this tour may spark an interest in prospective Singaporean youth in innovating new ways of agricultural cultivation in a land-scarce Singapore.
Written by:
Nigel Chok Kin Chun