Credits
By Low San Zeng
Overcoming these challenges
By Low San Zeng
Some of the ways to overcome these challenges:
-Raising levels of self-sufficiency will be limited by the scarcity of agricultural land.
-Agri-biotechnology has the greatest potential to improve agriculture in this millennium.
-Ongoing collaborative research with industry, tertiary institutions and research institutes can be further strengthened to develop new products
-continually upgrade the supporting infrastructure as well as the expertise of the professionals.
-Primary Production Department was restructured into a statutory board, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority or AVA, on 1 April 2000 in response to these needs. As a statutory board, AVA is equipped with greater autonomy and flexibility to enable it to better respond to the challenges faced by the food and agriculture industry in this millennium.
-Food Control Division (formerly part of the Ministry of the Environment) was formed on 1 July 2002 so that AVA can now regulates the safety of both fresh produce and processed foods, from production right up to just before retail.
-highly trained professionals will strive to build on past achievements and bring AVA to greater heights.
0new Marine Aquaculture Centre at St John's Island is set to boost marine aquaculture development in the region.
-establishment of two new laboratories, the Veterinary Public Health Laboratory and the Animal and Plant Health Laboratory, that are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and capabilities, will strengthen AVA ability to deal with emerging threats and be well- positioned to serve as regional reference centres for food safety, and for animal and plant health.
With all these solution, Singapore will able to overcome the problems of setting up high tech farming and lesser food will be imported. More Singaporeans will eat more of the local food produced.
Challenges facing high-tech farming
By Low San Zeng
Some constraints faced by high-tech farms are
: high capital investment
: shortage of trained workers
: competition from imported fruits and vegetables
These constraints have discouraged high-tech farmers from expanding their operations.
In response to these challenges, some enterprising farmers have ventured into agribusiness by offering educational programmer, opening restaurants that use the farm's produce, and providing farm-stays to students and the public.
Impact of High-tech farming on the environment
By Low San Zeng
High tech farming is more environmentally friendly as compared to soil-based farming. In this type of farming, the nutrients are in solution, and can be absorbed directly by the roots, instead of seeping into the soil. Pesticides are seldom used as the crops are either protected by netting or they are located in greenhouses which prevent pests and insects from attacking the plants. Thus high-tech farming has minimal effect on the environment.
High-tech farming also helps to conserve land and water resources. Less land is required because the crops are grown in troughs placed on top of one another. As water is supplied directly to the roots in carefully controlled amounts, very little water is wasted.
High-tech farms are generally located close to the markets. The produce need not be transported over long distances, and hence less fuel will be used. Moreover, as the production of the crops is carefully monitored to meet market demands, overproduction or wastage of resources is minimised.
Benefits of high-tech farming for Singapore
By Low San Zeng
High-tech farming has gained popularity in Singapore in recent years for the following reasons:
- As land is scarce and expensive in Singapore, it is not feasible to continue with the traditional way of farming which takes up huge tracts of land. In the 1970s, vegetable farms were distributed extensively in Potong Pasir, Ulu Sembawang, Marsiling, Yio Chu Kang and Tampines. Today the farms have been replaced by housing estates and mass rapid transit (MRT)lines. The total area of farmland has declined from more than 10000 hectares in the 1980s to about 803 hectares in 2004.
- By using high-tech methods, farmers in Singapore have been able to produce high-quality products at prices that are reasonable to benefit the consumers. When more of such vegetables are purchased, the farmers also benefit from the higher sales.
- The government aims to have up to 20 per cent of the vegetables consumed by Singapore grown locally. Through high-tech farming, Singapore can increase self-sufficiency so that it can reduce its dependence on imports.
Agrotechnology parks in Singapore
By Low San Zeng
Agrotechnology Parks are modern agriculture estates developed with the necessary infrastructure for farming. There are six agrotechnology parks in Singapore. They are located at Lim Chu Kang, Murai, Sungei Tengah, Nee Soon, Mandai and Loyang.
These parks occupy a total land area of 1,465 ha and nearly 700 ha have been allocated to over 200 farms for the production of livestock, eggs, milk, aquarium and food fish, vegetables, fruits, orchids, ornamental and aquatic plants, as well as for the breeding of birds and dogs. The modern farms in the Agrotechnology Parks develop, adapt and showcase advanced technologies and techniques for intensive farming systems, and for export of high value and quality products and services to other tropical countries in the region
Singapore's geographical location and unique cultural experience makes us the ideal partner for entering the vast Asian market.
High tech farming in Singapore
By Low San Zeng
High tech farming is the key to food sustainability of Singapore.
This sentence summaries the high tech farming we have in Singapore.
Since 1986 AVA Singapore ( Agri-Food Veterinary Authority ) have stared for high tech farming because of limited agricultural land in Singapore. Hi-TECH Farming need less space, for more products, less manpower and more hygiene for better product Quality.Singapore need Modern Technology , since 1986, to day over 200 farms in over six Agrotechnology Parks all are " Hi-TECH " ,products from Milk,Vegetables,Fish,Eggs,Fruit,etc. .Those vegetables by Singapore from NTUC is from our hi tech farming.
High tech farming is a plausible alternative food source for Singapore but it is not possible to rely entirely on it. Singapore's small land size makes it difficult to accommodate large areas of land for farming, even for high tech farming, which requires less land area. Singapore still needs to import food from other countries to sustain the demand here, so importing food is still the only option.
What is hi-tech farming?
By Low San Zeng
What is hi-tech farming? Before we begins our research, we will first find out what is hi-tech farming. Hi-tech farming is a knowledge-based agricultural system that makes use of technology to increase the value and quality of the farm's produce. Hi-tech farming usually takes place in or around densely populated urban areas where land is limited and costly.
These pictures are examples how hi-tech farming looks like:
As you can see from these pictures, hi-tech farming uses computer technology and automation to manage processes such as watering, fertilising and pest control to ensure high-quantity outputs.
Introduction
By Low San Zeng
