Local Farming and Food Fund

Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for National Development (a) if more land will be set aside for local farming in the longer term to boost Singapore's food supply resilience strategy; and (b) whether the Minister will provide an update on the status of the AVA's Food Fund launched in 2009.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: My Ministry encourages local farming in three key food sectors of leafy vegetables, fish and eggs. Today, farms from these three sectors occupy about 200 ha of land.

However, given Singapore's limited land, we have to balance future agriculture land needs with many other land use needs like housing and industry. That is why we have the ongoing Concept Plan 2011 review to help manage these difficult trade-offs.

Whatever limited land we set aside for farming, we must make sure that it is used productively and optimally. AVA set up a Food Fund of $10 million to help local farms raise their productivity levels. To-date, AVA has committed about $6 million to support 15 projects. For instance, Kok Fah Technology Farm used the Fund to automate and improve its packaging processes. Another farm, MPG coastal fish farm, used the Fund to establish a water quality system that provided real-time warning alerts of impending threats such as algal blooms.

In August this year, AVA launched a second tranche of $10 million for the Food Fund, and has received more than 30 applications from interested farmers. We will continue to work with our farmers to raise their productivity and capability levels.

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