Committee of Supply 2023 debate, Day 5: Koh Poh Koon on food resilience and climate resilience
The first land tender to farm mushrooms and fruited vegetables such as tomatoes will be launched in Singapore in the second half of this year. This comes as the Government offers higher co-funding for a wider range of food types. It will give consumers more choices of locally grown produce and is part of efforts to increase the country’s food resilience, said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 2). To optimise Singapore’s limited agriculture spaces, “good progress” is being made in master-planning Lim Chu Kang, which will be transformed into a high-tech agri-food zone. The Government intends to reap synergies between land-based farms in that region and sea-based farming in the adjacent West Johor Strait. Efforts are also in the works to build up the aquaculture sector. A study trip to countries with advanced aquaculture production will be conducted this year and local R&D facilities will be upgraded to attract more companies and researchers to base themselves here. Dr Koh also said the Government will study how it can show support for local produce in food procurement. A new Alliance for Action (AfA) will also explore ways to help hotels, restaurants and caterers, as well as consumers, embrace local produce. On climate resilience, Dr Koh announced that a new Coastal Protection and Flood Management Research Programme, funded by the National Research Foundation, will be launched. And the next site-specific study for coastal protection, covering Sungei Kadut and Lim Chu Kang, will start later this year.
The first land tender to farm mushrooms and fruited vegetables such as tomatoes will be launched in Singapore in the second half of this year. This comes as the Government offers higher co-funding for a wider range of food types. It will give consumers more choices of locally grown produce and is part of efforts to increase the country’s food resilience, said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon in Parliament on Thursday (Mar 2). To optimise Singapore’s limited agriculture spaces, “good progress” is being made in master-planning Lim Chu Kang, which will be transformed into a high-tech agri-food zone. The Government intends to reap synergies between land-based farms in that region and sea-based farming in the adjacent West Johor Strait. Efforts are also in the works to build up the aquaculture sector. A study trip to countries with advanced aquaculture production will be conducted this year and local R&D facilities will be upgraded to attract more companies and researchers to base themselves here. Dr Koh also said the Government will study how it can show support for local produce in food procurement. A new Alliance for Action (AfA) will also explore ways to help hotels, restaurants and caterers, as well as consumers, embrace local produce. On climate resilience, Dr Koh announced that a new Coastal Protection and Flood Management Research Programme, funded by the National Research Foundation, will be launched. And the next site-specific study for coastal protection, covering Sungei Kadut and Lim Chu Kang, will start later this year.
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