How Singapore is using tech to grow food without farmland

Key Concepts

• Indoor hydroponics farming
• Farm Management System (FMS)
• Automation and digitalization in agriculture
• Sustainable food production
• Food security and resilience
• Vertical farming
• Nutrient management
• LED lighting and its impact on plant growth
• Energy efficiency in farming
• Singapore's "30 by 30" vision
• Scalability in farming operations
• Cross-sector collaboration

Artisan Green: An Indoor Hydroponics Farm

Artisan Green is a commercial indoor hydroponics farm based in Singapore that supplies fresh produce to retail supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and cafes. They focus on building vertical farms to enhance Singapore's food security.

• Location: Singapore
• Method: Indoor hydroponics
• Supply: Retail supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and cafes in Singapore.
• Focus: Building vertical farms to enhance Singapore's food security.

Collaboration with Siemens: Farm Management System

Artisan Green is collaborating with Siemens to build a Farm Management System (FMS) designed to transform modern farming through automation and digitalization.

• Goal: Increase yields while using fewer resources (manpower, water, energy).
• FMS Modules: Nutrient management, lighting control, environmental parameter management.
• Siemens' Role: Providing automation and digitalization expertise.
• Key Benefit: Digitalizing plant science and storing it in a database.

Farm Overview and Technology

Artisan Green's farm spans 300 square meters and houses 20 grow racks, cultivating up to 20 varieties of fresh produce. They use advanced hydroponics in a fully controlled indoor setting, growing pesticide-free greens in urban Singapore.

• Size: 300 square meters
• Grow Racks: 20
• Varieties: Up to 20
• Method: Advanced hydroponics in a fully controlled indoor setting.
• Pesticide Use: Pesticide-free

Precision Nutrient Injection and Recipe Management

The farm management system includes a recipe management module and a prototype for a precision nutrient injector.

• Recipe Management: Stores over 100 different types of recipes.
• Nutrient Control: Allows specifying nutrient profiles and delivering them on demand to specific grow beds.
• Remote Access: Provides remote access to Artisan Green for monitoring status, energy consumption, and water consumption.

Automated Lighting Control

Automated lighting control is a key component of the Farm Management System.

• LED Lighting: Critical for photosynthesis.
• Blue Light: Activates secondary metabolites, enhancing aromatic compounds.
• Customization: Light can be adjusted for color and UV strength.
• Energy Manager Module: Monitors equipment to ensure 100% efficacy and save energy.

Manpower and Production

Despite automation, manpower remains at the core of Artisan Green's operations. They pack over a tonne of produce each month, with spinach being the top seller.

• Production: Over a tonne of produce each month.
• Top Seller: Spinach

Singapore's "30 by 30" Vision

Singapore imports over 90% of its food supply, making it vulnerable to global market volatility, climate shifts, and disease outbreaks. The Singapore government aims to sustainably produce 30% of the nation's nutritional needs locally by 2030 ("30 by 30" vision).

• Current Import Rate: Over 90%
• Goal: Sustainably produce 30% of the nation's nutritional needs locally by 2030.

Sustainability and Resource Efficiency

Hydroponic farms use 90% less water than traditional soil-based farming. Artisan Green's water bill is only $150 per month despite producing over a tonne of produce. They are also shifting towards perlite, a cheaper and more sustainable grow media.

• Water Usage: 90% less than traditional farming.
• Grow Media: Shifting towards perlite (volcanic rock).

Expansion Plans

Artisan Green was awarded a two-hectare plot of land and plans to build a new farm by the end of 2025, which will be 18 times larger than the current farm (expanding from 300 square meters to 5500 square meters) and increase production 30 times. Siemens is developing the farming management systems and providing programmable logic controllers for automation.

• New Farm Size: 5500 square meters (18 times larger).
• Production Increase: 30 times more.
• Siemens' Role: Developing farming management systems and providing programmable logic controllers.

Scalability and Future Potential

The system is designed to be scalable, allowing for the addition of more recipes and computing power to drive multiple farms.

Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing

Singapore's agriculture sector is relatively new, lacking deep agricultural knowledge. Collaboration and knowledge sharing are crucial for growth.

• Challenge: Lack of deep agricultural knowledge in Singapore.
• Solution: Collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Cross-Sector Collaboration for Sustainability

The challenges of today require cross-sector collaborations to reach sustainability and decarbonization targets.

• Key Point: Cross-sector collaborations are essential for achieving sustainability goals.

Conclusion

The partnership between Artisan Green and Siemens exemplifies how technology and modern farming can advance agriculture and contribute to food security and sustainability. By leveraging automation, digitalization, and data-driven insights, they are optimizing resource utilization, increasing yields, and paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable food system in Singapore. The scalability of their system and the emphasis on cross-sector collaboration highlight the potential for widespread adoption and impact.