Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on Supporting Local Agricultural Farms towards 30-by-30 vision

Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on Supporting Local Agricultural Farms Towards 30-by-30 Vision by Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Government will consider plans to support the leveraging or acquiring of requisite intellectual property by local agricultural firms that will support Singapore’s 30-by-30 local food production goal; and (b) what support can be provided to companies with agriculture operational knowledge but without full project development capabilities for scale-up farms.

Answer:

1 Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to answer PQs 9 and 10 on today’s Order Paper?

2 In our “30 by 30” vision, we aim to build the capability and capacity of the agri-food ecosystem towards productive, resource-efficient, and climate-resilient food production. Over the years, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has progressively built the agri-food ecosystem of productive farms, harnessing science and technology to boost production, and preparing the necessary spaces and infrastructure. However, our agri-food sector, like many other sectors, has been facing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic to strong headwinds such as high inflationary pressures and construction delays.

3 SFA is working closely with farms to overcome these challenges through initiatives such as facilitating regulatory clearances and supporting capability development by co-funding the adoption of technology through the Agri-food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund. To date, the $60 million ACT Fund has committed more than $23 million of co-funding to 60 projects. The ACT Fund can support licensing, acquisition, or registration of intellectual property of farming systems and engagement of consultancy, sub-contracting, and design and development services, which help to increase food production. Local farms can also partner local researchers to tap on the Singapore Food Story 2.0 R&D Programme, which promotes R&D in aquaculture, sustainable urban agriculture, future foods, and food safety.

4 The agri-land plot that was originally awarded to VertiVegies has since been retendered to another agri-food player to contribute towards the “30 by 30” vision.

5 The success of our farms is also dependent on sufficient demand for local produce. This is why SFA has been working with the industry to improve demand offtake through measures including supporting the formation of a supply and demand aggregator for farms and retailers, and promotional events to increase the public’s awareness of local produce. Consumers can also do their part by choosing to purchase produce labelled with the red SG Fresh Produce logo, or dining at food businesses under the Farm-to-Table Recognition Programme which recognises food businesses that feature local produce on their menus.