When you think of Singapore, do you ever picture farms? We visit City Sprouts and Tomato Town, two urban farms changing that perception and helping to realise Singapore’s ‘30 by 30’ vision.
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00:00What are you doing?
00:04Harvesting.
00:08So I think land is not the main issue.
00:10We need the companies, we need dreamers,
00:13and we need people that want to come and be farmers.
00:16The only challenge with that now is because they're not making money,
00:19they can't pay well.
00:20So until the unit economics work,
00:22then we'll get more people coming to work in the farms.
00:26In this series, we'll explore how innovative technologies
00:30and local initiatives are rethinking the way we produce and consume food.
00:36Welcome to Future Food, where we explore the food production of tomorrow.
00:42In this episode, we head to the heartland of Red Hill,
00:46where we meet people that are making impactful initiatives
00:50to help with food security and sustainability.
00:54Hi Zach, nice to meet you. My name is Yulin.
00:57So this is such an interesting concept, you repurpose old schools.
01:02So what gave you the idea to do that?
01:06Back in 2018, URA worked with SLA to look into redeveloping old schools,
01:13repurposing them instead of just tearing them down and building new condos.
01:18The interesting thing about this project was URA planned it to be an intergenerational project.
01:23So this entire space is one school.
01:25Oh, okay, I see.
01:26The teacher's office and the general office is actually the childcare.
01:31And where the classroom is, is actually the nursing home.
01:34And where we are at, where we have the hall, and we have the canteen,
01:38and we have the school fields, this is the urban farm.
01:42So Zach, can you tell me more about Siddhi Sprouts?
01:44How did it sprout up?
01:46Yeah, so we started in 2019,
01:48while we were teaching different kinds of workshops across the community.
01:53So we went to boutiques fair, we went to schools,
01:55we brought kids to the nurseries in the Kranji area.
01:59And when we first saw the tender in, I think it was early 2019,
02:04we decided to try for it.
02:06It was also extremely humbling building Siddhi Sprouts through COVID-19.
02:11But I feel seeds that can sprout during the tough seasons will last.
02:16Exactly, what a great metaphor.
02:19Sprouting the adversity, guys.
02:21So what are some of the primary goals of Siddhi Sprouts?
02:25So the primary goal of Siddhi Sprouts is to watch communities through shared discovery.
02:30That's one of the core purpose and vision of the company.
02:35So there's three key areas where we focus in,
02:37which is vulnerable youth, elderly, and people with disabilities.
02:42So Siddhi Sprouts really is not just an urban farm,
02:45it's a social enterprise that have different types of programmes,
02:49different types of events that bring people together.
02:51And some of these programmes and events are socially engineered
02:55to bring various groups of people together.
02:57And through the different bonds that we build during the programme itself,
03:01that's when you get a very strong and a tighter social compact within Singapore.
03:07Can you share some of the success stories of how Siddhi Sprouts has impacted the community?
03:12So when we first started in the old Henderson Secondary School,
03:15we had 31 community farmers.
03:18Fast forward to 2024, we have 153 community farmers.
03:23Big small, small plots, people that are just doing for hobby,
03:27coming on the evening, elderly, youth,
03:30and people who are trying to start their own agriculture business.
03:34So one of the core reasons why we started Siddhi Sprouts as well,
03:37we wanted to support people from the community that wanted to grow crops.
03:42So Siddhi Sprouts actually provide this small little space,
03:45you can trial it on a yearly basis.
03:47Once your minimum viable product is up,
03:50then you can scale up the business, you can get investors to have a look.
03:53And that's one of the success stories such as Tomato Town,
03:57and other success stories such as Mushroom Buddy,
04:00which is also a social enterprise that they support
04:03special needs individuals for mushroom harvesting
04:06because it's a repetitive process.
04:08So that's the kind of idea that we want to bridge
04:11and Siddhi Sprouts, we see ourselves as a community player
04:14where we bridge the corporates as well as the social,
04:18as well as individuals from the community.
04:20So what are some of your future plans to help with Singapore's
04:22food security and sustainability?
04:25So first up, we launched the fifth space in Singapore,
04:29so that's Bidah City.
04:31The focus is really to build more companies,
04:34more startups at an early stage.
04:36We'll invite them there to do prototyping,
04:39micro factory, produce different types of vegetables and food
04:43at Bidah City.
04:44While Siddhi Sprouts' importance is really to still capacity build
04:48at a community level,
04:50to allow people to understand what's going on in the market,
04:53what are some new products,
04:54some new ideas that people have came up with,
04:57what are some new farmers that came into the market,
04:59then we'll introduce them during our signature Farmers' Market.
05:03Farmers' Market in Singapore,
05:05I think that's probably the first I've heard actually.
05:07I mean, I used to live overseas in the UK or in Australia,
05:10and it's so common over there to hear of Farmers' Market,
05:12fresh produce, fresh cheese at Farmers' Market, right?
05:15But in Singapore, I mean, this is honestly the first I've heard.
05:18Yeah, it's true, it's true.
05:19I mean, the tough part about organising a Farmers' Market
05:22is not in doing the market.
05:25The tough part is, where are the farmers?
05:27So that's something that why we developed Bidah City,
05:31we want to encourage more farmers,
05:33and Siddhi Sprouts, at the core of it,
05:35is also to encourage more farmers.
05:37So that's the dream that we have for Singapore,
05:39and we believe that Singapore will be self-sufficient.
05:42It's just a matter of how we get there.
05:44Really see how the government is shifting everything
05:46so that we are becoming more and more self-reliant.
05:50Yeah, it really takes action from the ground
05:53because SFA is launching their big-scale mega-plan
05:57for Sungai Tengah area of farming,
06:00and I think they are spending the capital
06:03to set up some of these farms for investment
06:06and companies to come in and set up their farms.
06:09So I think land is not the main issue.
06:12We need the companies, we need dreamers,
06:15and we need people that want to come and be farmers.
06:18Hopefully, whatever Siddhi Sprouts is doing,
06:21or Bidah City is doing,
06:22we can inspire a few along the way,
06:24and people will come into the sector.
06:27They'll see it as something that's important for the country,
06:30they'll see it as an alternative kind of business,
06:32not just the typical start-up
06:35that Singapore usually churns out.
06:37Sprouting some inspiration there.
06:39Well, thanks, Zach, for your very insightful
06:41and candid sharing of how Siddhi Sprouts sprouted,
06:45and you're definitely inspiring, I believe,
06:48the next generation of farmers, young people.
06:50So, thanks very much for your time.
06:52Thank you so much, thank you so much.
06:53To learn more about urban farms,
06:56I head to West Coast to speak to the managing partner
06:59of Greenbridge Partners.
07:00So Kelvin, how has urban farming evolved in Singapore
07:04over the last few years?
07:05I think we started with growing herbs in our gardens,
07:09and then we started looking at vertical farms,
07:11not just for vegetables,
07:13but also things like fruits, strawberries, and so on.
07:17If you look at some of our farms,
07:18they're very, very high-tech.
07:20The only challenge with that now
07:21is because they're not making money,
07:23they can't pay well.
07:25So it's not attracting a lot of people
07:28like maybe the tech sector is,
07:31or the finance sector is,
07:32because end of day,
07:34whether you have paid good money for that job.
07:37So until the unit economics work
07:39and these agri-tech companies start making good money,
07:44I'm sure they will pay the employees well,
07:47and then we'll get more people coming to work in the farms.
07:50To find out more about how the urban farm
07:52can exist in the city,
07:54I speak to the co-founder of Tomato Town.
07:58Hi Webster, I'm Yulin, nice to meet you.
08:00Hi Yulin, nice to meet you.
08:01Thanks for inviting us to your town, Tomato Town, right?
08:05Yes, that's right.
08:06Tomato, tomato, you say tomato, I say...
08:08Tomato.
08:09Exactly.
08:10But I don't see any tomatoes.
08:11It's not tomato season.
08:14Yes, it's not tomato season.
08:16We normally grow tomato towards the end of the year.
08:19Okay.
08:19So currently it's a bit too hot,
08:20so we don't really grow it right now.
08:22So over here, we actually grow mainly basil and kale,
08:25and then we just supply it to supermarkets.
08:28Oh lovely, it sounds very Italian and it's kind of...
08:31Well, I mean, tomato, kale, basil...
08:33It's very sharp-eyed you have.
08:34Yeah, I see.
08:35Typically Italian kale.
08:36Maybe we can do some cooking later.
08:37Maybe, maybe, maybe.
08:41So how does Tomato Town work?
08:43So basically we bid for HDB Car Park's rooftops
08:46to actually set up our aeroponics system.
08:49The roots will be hanging,
08:51and most of the watering is done through a shower head
08:53at the top of our pipes.
08:55So what are the advantages of aeroponics farming
08:58compared to traditional farming methods?
09:00I think one of the advantages is we can actually
09:02really fully utilise spaces.
09:05Usual traditional farming will probably require
09:07soil length to actually grow on top of the car park.
09:10But for us, we actually don't require much soil,
09:12or we don't even use soil at all.
09:14So it actually helps to reduce pests.
09:17And more importantly, we actually recirculate our water.
09:20So how can you ensure that recycled water
09:23is good for the plants?
09:24Basically, our recycled water is laced with nutrients,
09:27and then we actually recycle it
09:29by collecting it back in the tank.
09:31So it's a closed-loop system
09:32in the whole entire aeroponics system.
09:34So there is no exposure to foreign objects
09:36and foreign methods.
09:37And moreover, every quarterly,
09:39we actually change out the water.
09:41So how long do these plants take to mature?
09:43The seed-to-seedling phase takes about two to three weeks.
09:47And then the seedling phase, when we put it outdoors,
09:50probably another two to three weeks
09:52for it to be fully mature.
09:54So the entire process will probably take about six weeks,
09:57which is about one and a half months each.
09:59So what are the commitments of urban farming?
10:01And what's a typical day like here on the farm?
10:03Definitely, we have to check in on the nutrients content
10:06and also the temperature of water
10:08to make sure that everything is within the range
10:11of our vegetable growing at a healthy level.
10:14With the farm-to-table concept,
10:15we normally harvest it in the morning
10:17and then we send it to restaurants
10:19as well as supermarkets in the afternoon.
10:23So when it gets to noon, whereby it's too hot,
10:25the plants actually produce some kind of chemical
10:27that makes it taste bitter.
10:30So we tend to actually do it in the morning
10:32and it's also much comfortable for everyone as well.
10:35That's really fresh.
10:36Yes, that's right.
10:37Can't imagine having like, you know,
10:39never would I have thought
10:40that you get all that freshness in Singapore
10:41in terms of farm-to-table.
10:43Yeah, you can chew off.
10:44So what is the most important value as an urban farmer?
10:49My thing is to be able to adapt
10:51as the farming industry, especially for urban farming,
10:53is pretty new in Singapore.
10:55So a lot of things we actually learn ourselves
10:57and we require a lot of trial and error.
11:00Even at the start,
11:01before we actually set up a commercial farm,
11:03we actually took the system,
11:06we took the technology to actually try out
11:07in a smaller plot in City Sprout.
11:10After learning how to actually grow,
11:13we have confidence in terms of the yield.
11:16Then we move out from City Sprout
11:17to actually bid for larger plots of land
11:19to actually start our commercial farm full-scale.
11:22I see, wow.
11:23How long did that take?
11:25Like, how many years was that process?
11:27So for us, it took almost over three years.
11:29Wow.
11:30Yeah, to go from a test plot at City Sprout
11:34to a full-scale commercial farm across Singapore.
11:37So what role do you think urban farming will play
11:40in Singapore's future food landscape?
11:43Urban farming in Singapore should be quite important
11:45considering the lack of space.
11:48Growing on rooftop actually make a lot of sense space-wise.
11:51And secondly, pest-wise,
11:53it's not as bad as growing it on the ground.
11:55So yeah, we don't really use pesticide
11:58or any preservative on our plants,
12:01which actually kind of give us the edge
12:02over other crops that's heavily laced
12:04with pesticide and preservative.
12:06Well, thanks very much, Bertster,
12:08for showing me around your lovely,
12:10rolling HDB slopes and jungle things
12:14and streams of water and pipes.
12:18They come close to the Italian rolling hills.
12:22And right now I'm sweating like a sun-dried tomato,
12:25if you can see.
12:26And I'm ready to harvest
12:29and make myself some refreshing salad
12:31that has no bitter aftertaste
12:33because it is not harvested in this very hot sun.
12:38We've gained valuable insights into the challenges
12:40and ongoing efforts to ensure a more food-secure
12:44and sustainable future for Singapore.
12:47By supporting initiatives like Tomato Town,
12:50we can collectively make a difference
12:52to our environment and food security,
12:54and maybe even try our hand at growing our own food.
12:59Thank you for joining me on this journey
13:01as we explore the future of food in Singapore.
13:04I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
13:06This is your host, Eulen, signing out.
13:10Thank you so much.
13:12I forgot your name.
13:13It's okay.
13:14Oh, I'm scared.
13:17It's the first time I've ever seen a chicken.
13:19You made it!
13:20You made it!
13:22How do you know?
13:25Oh my gosh.