Agriculture Productivity Fund Disbursements

Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for National Development (a) how much of the Agriculture Productivity Fund has been disbursed in each year since 2009; (b) what categories of projects have attracted the largest funding amounts; (c) what are the criteria for determining the size of the grants received; and (d) how does the Ministry ensure that these recipients perform as expected.

Mr Lawrence Wong: The Agriculture Productivity Fund (APF) was launched in end-2014 to help our farmers boost their yields and raise productivity. The APF co-funds initiatives such as farm capability development to support productivity improvements, and research and development (R&D) in innovative production technologies.

About $0.69 million was disbursed from APF in 2015. As the scheme is still new, we can expect higher take-up and greater disbursement of funds over the coming years. Before the introduction of the APF, there was a Food Fund scheme, which served a similar purpose, and which had disbursed about $18 million from 2009 to 2014.

Thus far, the projects receiving the highest APF funding have been those that involve the purchase of advanced, high-technology production systems. The size of grants depends on the nature and scale of the project. Generally, farms can receive up to 50% co-funding for basic capability upgrading, up to 70% co-funding for productivity enhancements, and up to 90% co-funding for R&D projects, with varying quantums for the different farm types.

AVA works closely with recipients to ensure successful project outcomes at key milestones during the project timeline. AVA also conducts Post-Implementation Reviews together with APF recipients upon project completion to ensure that productivity deliverables are met before final funding amounts are disbursed.