In a joint release, SFA and HDB noted that the sites for rent will be used to farm vegetables and other food crops as well as for other activities such as packing and storing produce. Photo: Citiponics/Facebook
The rooftops of several HDB multi-storey car parks will soon be transformed into urban farming sites.
This comes as the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) launched tenders for nine such sites on Tuesday (12 May).
In a joint release, SFA and HDB noted that the sites for rent will be used to farm vegetables and other food crops as well as for other activities such as packing and storing produce.
Two of the sites for tender – in Sembawang and Jurong West – are cluster sites, enabling farmers to enjoy cost savings via production at scale. These sites consist of two plots each.
Meanwhile, the five single sites in Tampines, Choa Chu Kang, Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh and Hougang will provide farmers with the opportunity to testbed for innovative ideas.
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Interested parties can submit their proposals through the online Government procurement platform GeBiz. Tender for the sites closes on 9 June.
“Proposals will be assessed on their bid price, production output, design and site layout, as well as (their) business/marketing plan,” said SFA and HDB.
The move to look for alternative farming space in land-constrained Singapore is part of the strategy of SFA to meet the city-state’s goal of producing 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
It is also in line with the efforts of HDB to intensify greening at HDB estates.
“We are heartened by the growing interest from both the industry and the public
towards urban farming in community spaces, following the launch of our pilot MSCP
rooftop farm, Citiponics, in Ang Mo Kio last year,” said Melvin Chow, Senior Director of Food Supply Resilience Division at SFA.
“Residents in the area have been able to enjoy fresh produce from the farm at nearby supermarkets, and can witness first-hand the hard work involved in bringing our food from farm-to-fork. We hope that consumers will continue to show their appreciation for our local farms by buying their produce.”
SFA and HDB are also working towards launching more urban farms on car park rooftops, with public tenders to be held in the second half of 2020.
“More details will be released at a later date,” said SFA and HDB.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg