It was only last week we introduced you to a view of Singaporean agriculture. "Singaporeans have to get creative, because there's just not enough space for huge fields full of crops or massive greenhouses", we concluded, and it turns out that they do. Today we present you two new integrated farms. Urban Farming Partners joins forces with infrastructure construction company HSL to develop an integrated commercial farm in an existing building. AmHydro and ComCrop of Singapore have also announced the development of an 8-greenhouse rooftop farm.
American Hydroponics (AmHydro) of Arcata, CA and ComCrop of Singapore announce the development of an 8-greenhouse rooftop farm to provide pesticide-free, sustainable food to this Island Nation. "ComCrop, Singapore’s premier rooftop farming company, will be utilizing specialized rooftop greenhouse technology and state of the art AmHydro hydroponic growing systems to address skyrocketing demand for locally grown, sustainable produce", they explain.
ComCrop CEO Peter Barber
Farming complex of 8 greenhouses
This rooftop farming complex will consist of 8 rooftop greenhouses. The first farm (phase 1) will be 6,930 square feet, capable of producing over 332,000 plants (approx. 90,000 pounds of fresh food) per year. The entire project, when complete, will total over 35,000 square feet.
ComCrop sells fresh herbs and leafy greens online, to supermarket customers, as well as to restaurants. “This new farm will be producing new crops for these customers by July 2018,” says ComCrop CEO, Peter Barber. AmHydro has previously designed and built rooftop hydroponic systems for successful growers, such as Lufa Farms in Montreal, Gotham Greens, and Sky Vegetables, both in NYC. This new rooftop farming project now puts AmHydro in 66 countries across the globe.
Converting previously neglected rooftop spaces into urban farms, ComCrop is the first and only AVA certified rooftop farm in all of Singapore. Their goal is to increase the volume of domestically produced food, as over 90% is currently imported.
High performance AmHydrop growing system
Rooftop farm at Sky Vegetables, Bronx, NYC
To design and build their new rooftop growing systems, ComCrop CEO Peter Barber explains that “ComCrop chose AmHydro over competing systems because they are best suited for our rooftop environment and will deliver the best yields in Singapore’s unique climate.” He also adds that “the new greenhouses combined with AmHydro growing systems will significantly increase our yield and allow us to sell higher volumes and larger varieties of leafy green vegetables to local customers.”
Worker tending current ComCrop rooftop farm
High performance AmHydro growing system
AmHydro Vice President Joe Swartz says, “We are very pleased and look forward to extending our close working relationship with ComCrop as they expand to more sites across Singapore and beyond.” He adds, “Rooftop farming is just one of the many tools that we will use to feed our urban populations in the future, and working with great companies such as ComCrop will help us to achieve that goal.”
Infrastucture company
On a slightly different scale, but following the same trend the Dutch public-private partnership UFP (Urban Farming Partners) announced that they're joining forces with HSL, an infrastructure construction company in the ASEAN region. Together they will develop a large scale integrated commercial farm in HSL’s existing building. This farm potentially has a capacity of over 1000 tons of healthy and fresh, ready-to-eat produce for the Singapore market.
"Growing fresh produce in an optimal indoor environment with state-of-the-art LED-lighting, irrigation, fertigation and climate control systems; our integrated urban farm concept fits seamlessly with the opportunities in the industrial premises of HSL in the Singapore harbour", they tell.
UFP and HSL signed a cooperation agreement on the 30th of January to make this integrated urban farm a reality. This new partner is an essential addition to the established partnerships with Citizen Farm as a local operator and knowledge partner Nanyang Technological University. Citizen Farm, has already developed productive food gardens in Singapore for clients like restaurants, schools, hotels, and residences.
"We are devoted to social responsibility, sustainability, innovation, and green and healthy environments", HSL explains. "These traits match perfectly with the vision of UFP and Citizen Farm. Circular processes like the harvest of rainwater and solar power and reuse of industrial CO2 are examples of sustainable proven technologies that will be included in the overall design of the urban farm."
Mid 2018 the partners will decide on the crops and growth systems most suitable for the urban farm in the HSL building. "Together, we take Singapore food to the next level."
For more information:
Joe Swartz
American Hydroponics
286 South G Street
Arcata, CA 95521-6670
Phone 707-825-3082
Joe@AmHydro.com
americanhydroponics.com
Wouter Vos
Urban Farming Partners
T: +31 6 53 13 48 61
E: wvos@kuiper.nl
www.urbanfarmingpartners.com
Grace Lim-Quek, HSL
E: grace@hsl.com.sg
www.hsl.com.sg
Kenlog bv.
Europa 1
2672 ZX Naaldwijk, Westland
M. +31 6 252 76 071
E. mirjamboekestijn@kenlog.nl
I. www.kenlog.nl