Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Madam, as we advance towards a climate-resilient urban planning model, our local farms should not be left behind.
In my speech during the Second Reading of the Food Safety and Security Bill in January, I highlighted the crucial role farms play in ensuring Singapore’s food security, especially with more frequent extreme weather patterns in future. We should, therefore, equip our farms with effective mitigation measures against climate change.
Currently, grants under the 30-by-30 vision predominantly focus on high-tech solutions, leaving a gap in support for low-tech sustainable farming practices. While high-tech innovations have strengthened our food security, we must also recognise the potential of tried and tested low-tech methods that can enhance the resilience of our agricultural sector.
Low-tech agricultural practices rooted in traditional knowledge and ecological principles offer cost-effective and sustainable ways to mitigate the effects of climate change. Many of these techniques have been successfully implemented elsewhere worldwide, and Singapore can benefit by adapting them to suit our land-scarce farmscape.
A good example is the Back Halloween Farm in France, which employs permaculture to create a high use sustainable system on a small land area. Permaculture mimics natural ecosystem by fostering synergies between crops and animals. This approach includes growing different crops side by side, rotating them accordingly, and designing water channels for natural irrigation. It has proven useful against extreme weather events, despite enduring three consecutive record-breaking dry summers. The farm experienced minimal disruption by interweaving a diverse root network with dense vegetation. The soil retained moisture like a giant sponge, shielding crops from extreme weather. Moreover, this technique has proven more effective per square metre than conventional mechanised farming, garnering interest from scientific institutions worldwide.
Similarly, our fish farms can incorporate natural solutions like aqua plants to improve climate resilience. Aqua plants provide shade and cooling, stabilising water temperatures and prevent algae blooms by absorbing excess ammonia while producing oxygen. Importantly, they reduce the risk of hypoxia, oxygen depletion, a significant challenge during Singapore’s hotter months when warmer water holds less dissolved oxygen.
While technology remains crucial for precise monitoring and control, aqua plants offer a valuable low-tech complement for fish farms. However, such low-tech solutions are not necessarily low cost. Permaculture consultations are offered by local companies like GWS and Habitat Collective but require substantial investment in research, adaptation and implementation to be effective at a commercial scale. The availability of funding for these solutions will provide adequate support for adoption by farmers.
In this way, Singapore can build a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector, better prepared for climate change challenges.
Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
4 March 2025
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=budget-2595
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 