Paul Teng　Rob Hulme　Andrew Powell

Not only are plant-based alternatives sprouting in restaurant menus in Singapore, but there also seems to be more demand for them.

Local burger chain, Fatboy, for example recently launched an “Impossible” menu made with Impossible Foods plant-based meat to long queues and rave reviews online.

California-based Impossible Foods is just one of the many companies producing plant-based meats.

New forms of food, which also include “clean” or “cellular”, are increasingly popular, driven by concerns around the sustainability of current meat production systems, both in terms of animal ethics and environmental impact.

As the world becomes more environmentally conscious, these trends present huge opportunities for businesses keen to venture into the food industry.

Singapore is already seeing a home-grown company Shiok Meats using similar technologies to make “clean shrimp” — one of the worlds first lab-grown shrimp. It recently raised US$ 4.6 million in funding giving their ambitions to feed the world an extra boost.

Singapores recent push in farming could see many other ideas bubble to the surface and be given greater support. In March, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon announced that Singapore will develop a new 18-hectare Agri-Food Innovation Park (AFIP) in Sungei Kadut, to be opened in stages after the second quarter of 2021. The park, which will bring together high-tech farming and research and development activities, is a huge effort geared at helping Singapore produce its food and raise its self-sufficiency levels.

We dont know what the Singapore new agri-tech park will look like, but given its scale, it surely presents the country a chance to push for bold ideas and develop its agricultural sector in a way that reflects its position as a city-state with little traditional agricultural land but is able to lead in the development of new food technologies and systems.

Opportunities in agri- and aqua-culture technology

So how can Singapores new agri-tech park do this?

Singapore has demonstrated good progress in technology-enabled farming, such as in indoor and vertical farming for vegetables, large scale commercial fish farms and technology-enabled egg farms. These areas can be further developed as core activities in the AFIP.

But its the use of innovative technologies for farming can be further given a boost to tap on ongoing research and development work in Singapores tertiary institutions on food science. An export sub-sector for urban farming technologies and integrated production systems could be created for these purposes.

Aquaculture is another area of opportunities. There is renewed interest in this around the region due to concerns over the sustainability of ocean-caught fish, the increasing impact of micro-plastics, and questions over the suitability of offshore cage systems in some areas due to currents and pollution.

The AFIP could encourage the development of land-based farming based on advanced water filtration, sustainable feeding systems and adapted fish species to be more suitable to such production systems.

It could do so by tapping on Temasek Polytechnics Centre of Innovation in Aquaculture, taking their technologies and piloting them, with the view to rolling out to mass production-scaled farms.

Additionally, as the AFIP is envisaged to have capabilities to produce food that can be exported to the region, Singapore could produce fingerlings (young fishes) to be sold for fish farming both domestically and in the region. These fingerlings could be certified and traced throughout its production and growing phase in external farms.

This tight control of the production cycle would allow a “Singapore Certification” on the quality of the produce and address the consumers desire for food safety assurance.

This certification initiative could be further strengthened by the development within the AFIP of technologies that support traceability, product integrity, and food safety, such as advanced RFID systems, blockchain, and genetic fingerprinting or tagging.

Beyond urban agriculture systems

While the demand for lab-grown meat seems to be growing, little work has yet been done on the economics of production or any potential nutrition effects of such food.

Start-ups and those interested to take advantage of the AFIP should actively aim to develop original technology to bridge this gap.

One need is the technology for quick identification of food items to prevent false claims of expensive meat items like wagyu beef or cod fish. Much research and development are still needed to develop mobile tools to accurately identify authentic or fake produce.

Untapped markets for new technologies exist on Singapores doorstep in the approximately 350 million small holder farmers in Asia, and 100 million in ASEAN. Technologies that improve productivity, increase water and energy efficiency, ensure sustainability and reduce drudgery have huge potential.

Ensuring the sustainability of the innovation park

The Singapore AFIP must have focus and relevance to Singapores agri-food industry, and additionally, be able to capitalise on the food and farming needs of the region.

This can best be achieved by forming a not-for-profit entity, built with public and private sector support that can serve to coordinate, catalyse and guide efforts to achieve synergies across the agri-food sector. This independently operating entity could “connect the dots” among the many sector players and accelerate the progress in delivering tangible outcomes.

Chinas Ping Tung Agricultural Biotechnology Park has an apex entity providing this kind of coordinating function as does the Netherlands Food Valley through its Food Valley Organisation (FVO).

Building human resource capacity and capability, and a vibrant culture of innovation and entrepreneurship directed to raising Singapores exports of food technology and products, is key to long-term sustainability of the AFIP. The biggest challenge for this new push into agriculture is people with knowledge of the whole value chain.

Local tertiary institutions such as Republic and Temasek Polytechnic have responded by developing courses in plant agriculture and aquaculture respectively, but specific course modules focused on relevant key industry verticals such as indoor farming and aquaculture systems, or cellular meat, could be developed in conjunction with global education partners as part of broader biology programs.

But the application of other technologies to farming systems must not be neglected. Opportunities for technology applications in agriculture could be highlighted in other university programs such as engineering, electronics and computer science.

All of these will help sustain Singapores agriculture businesses in the long run. With its intellectual capital, strong innovative culture and protection of intellectual property, not to mention its geographical position in the middle of growing urban populations and untapped markets, Singapore is well-positioned to play a role in the development of new global farming systems.

· Source: Channel NewsAsia