Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Rina Chandran
A small farm on top of a mall grows herbs and leafy greens in a high-tech urban farming model that could improve Singapore’s food security.
As agricultural land becomes more scarce around the world, we can all learn from the way tiny Singapore is using rooftop gardens to help feed the population.
Rina Chandran at Reuters writes, “Visitors to Singapore’s Orchard Road, the city’s main shopping belt, will find fancy malls, trendy department stores, abundant food courts — and a small farm. Comcrop’s [6,450-square-foot] farm on the roof of one of the malls uses vertical racks and hydroponics to grow leafy greens and herbs such as basil and peppermint that it sells to nearby bars, restaurants and stores. …
“Comcrop’s Allan Lim, who set up the rooftop farm five years ago, recently opened a 4,000-square-metre farm with a greenhouse on the edge of the city. He believes high-tech urban farms are the way ahead for the city, where more land cannot be cultivated. …
“Singapore last year topped the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Food Security Index of 113 countries for the first time, scoring high on measures such as affordability, availability and safety.
“Yet, as the country imports more than 90 percent of its food, its food security is susceptible to climate-change and natural resource risks, the EIU noted.
With some 5.6 million people in an area three-fifths the size of New York City — and with the population estimated to grow to 6.9 million by 2030 — land is at a premium in Singapore.
“The country has long reclaimed land from the sea, and plans to move more of its transport, utilities and storage underground to free up space for housing, offices and greenery. …
“Urban agriculture currently produces as much as 180 million metric tonnes of food a year — up to 10 percent of the global output of pulses and vegetables, the study noted. Additional benefits, such as reduction of the urban heat-island effect, avoided stormwater runoff, nitrogen fixation and energy savings could be worth $160 billion annually, it said. Countries including China, India, Brazil and Indonesia could benefit significantly from urban agriculture, it said.
” ‘Urban agriculture should not be expected to eliminate food insecurity, but that should not be the only metric,’ said study co-author Matei Georgescu, a professor of urban planning at Arizona State University.
” ‘It can build social cohesion among residents, improve economic prospects for growers, and have nutritional benefits. In addition, greening cities can help to transition away from traditional concrete jungles,’ he said. …
“At the rooftop farm on Orchard Road, Lim looks on as brisk, elderly Singaporeans — whom he has hired to get around the worker shortage — harvest, sort and pack the day’s output.
” ‘It’s not a competition between urban farms and landed farms; it’s a question of relevance,’ he said. ‘You have to ask: what works best in a city like Singapore.’ ”
The article was reprinted by the World Economic Forum and can be found here. One weird thing about this story: There are still small farms in the countryside, but they are not as efficient as the rooftop gardens and will be cleared — to give the land back to the military. Now, that is truly bizarre.
Bizarre is right. But the rooftop gardens sound great.
Sad that they are doing away with the small farms,hydroponic food is good and raising more food on roof tops is a great idea,but hydroponic food still isn’t as tasty as from the ground… kind of like a grocery tomato compared to a homegrown tomato.😊
You are so right about the difference in taste. I have noticed that myself. Normal farm soil adds something valuable.
Once during my commute, Edgar B. Herwick III of WGBH radio road the train to interview passengers. I was quite put out when I realized that he only wanted to hear complaints. For me, the problems with the commute, especially that bad winter, had reasonable explanations. I was sympathetic to the company and knew that driving was worse. That was by first experience with a reporter who had decided how his story would go before he asked questions.