How Singapore is turning multi-storey car parks into farms

A farm is located on the top deck of a car park.

She says that it supplies nearby retailers with up to 400 kilograms of vegetables a day.

We have a lot of car parks in Singapore. She says it's a dream to have farms here to meet the needs of the community.

There are at least a dozen rooftop farms in the South East Asian state.

In order to increase local food production, the government leased out the unusual plots. Most of the country's food is imported.

Land in this island nation is not cheap because there is not enough room. Singapore has some of the most expensive properties.

The high cost of his first car park plot meant that he had to give it up and move to a cheaper place.

When the farm was visited by the British Broadcasting Corporation, operations were in full swing.

Choy sum is a vegetable used in Chinese cooking.

An employee at the other end of the facility was re-potting plants.

Every day we harvest. Depending on the vegetables we are growing, it can range from 100 kilo to 200 kilo.

She says starting the farm costs around $719,920 and that most of the money is spent on equipment to speed up harvest.

She says her business is not profitable yet despite receiving some subsidies.

She pays a rent of around S$85,000 a year for the space and another car park site which is still being set up.

The setting up period happened during the Covid Pandemic, so it took a longer time.

This was the first rooftop car park tender awarded by the government so it was new to everyone.

Other ways to make money are being found by rooftop farmers in Singapore.

Nicholas said he turned a profit by charging people a monthly fee to harvest vegetables.

The idea is popular with families who live nearby as it is a community approach rather than a commercial approach.

Mark Lee moved to an industrial building that charged a "negligible" rent because of high costs.

Vegetables are simply vegetables. It's possible to get it at the best quality, but you can't pay a lot. Mr Lee is not talking about truffles.

Singapore wants to increase the amount of food it produces.

The majority of the country's home-grown produce comes from high tech facilities that are heavily subsidized by the government. The official figures show that it had over 200 farms in 2020.

The Singapore Food Agency says that some of the farms can expand their production to make more money.

The issue of food security is an important one for Singapore. Singapore is a small city state with limited resources that is vulnerable to external shocks.

The spokesman says that it's important that we take steps to secure our vital resources.

Image source, NATURE'S INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY

The issue of food security came into focus in Singapore when several countries in the region banned or limited the export of key foods.

The price of everything from staple foods to crude oil went up as governments reliant on imports tried to protect their food supplies.

More than three times the current amount of food will be produced by Singapore in the next 15 years.

More support should be offered to urban farms according to Professor William Chen.

Prof Chen is a director of the university's food science and technology programme.

Helping local farmers to adopt simple technologies might be considered.

High operating costs are likely to remain a challenge for urban farmers according to an assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

She says that Singapore offers a lot of subsidies and financial support to entrepreneurs.

When the government support stops, the question is whether these farms will be viable.

Ms Goh is back on a rooftop surrounded by tower blocks in the midst of Singapore's urban sprawl.

Generations of farmers have told her that giving up is not an option. It will be rewarding if it is more challenging.

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