Author and wordsmith Carolyn Ortega is a passionate proponent of the locavore movement and a long-time champion of local, urban farmers. Her first book The Kampong Garden, published in 2014 was an introduction to growing edible gardens, while her second book, The Kranji Countryside: Soul of Singapore, was just launched this week, in conjunction with the 27th Commonwealth Agriculture Conference held for the first time in Singapore on Nov 2 to 4.
We extract five interesting facts about urban farming and the Kranji Countryside that we learnt from her latest book:
There are more than 45 farmers subsisting on agricultural businesses in the Kranji countryside
Singapore may be known as a concrete jungle, but this reputation isn’t all pervasive. There are more than 45 farmers in Kranji alone, if membership numbers of the Kranji Countryside Association (KCA) is anything to go by. The KCA is a non-profit organization that promotes local agriculture, food security and sustainability, education, conservation, agri-tainment and agri-tourism.
From having only 10 founding members in 2005, it has grown to a strong association that today works with public and private partners to maintain one per cent of Singapore’s land area for growing food in a secure, safe and sustainable way.
KCA is also the organizer of the popular quarterly Kranji Countryside Farmers’ Market, and is the proud host of the 27th Commonwealth Agriculture Conference, the first ever Asian edition held in Singapore in November 2016.
(Read related: Local Produce You Didn’t Know Could Be Grown In Singapore)
The oldest farmer in Singapore is 93 years old - and he can still be spotted actively watching over his farm today
His name is Ho Seng Choon and he has been active in agriculture and education for the past five decades. He established his farm, Lian Wah Hang Quail and Poultry Farm, in 1954 - making it one of the earliest farms to be set up in Singapore.
Besides being deeply devoted to raising technological standards of local farms, Ho is also credited for starting the first Chinese language farming journal, on top of countless other contributions such as sponsoring exhibitions, setting up the Animal Association of Singapore and organizing the largest nation-wide farm exhibition at Kallang Airport.
From 1998, Ho’s youngest son, William, began to offer public tours of Lian Wah Hang Farm with the aim of introducing children to the basics of farm life, while appreciating where the food on their dinner tables comes from.
(Watch: Beyond The Table With Uncle William of Lian Wah Hang Quail Farm)
You can find enough local produce in Kranji for a full meal
From goat’s milk to mushrooms, wheatgrass and even frogs legs and premium hashima - there’s plenty to fill your shopping basket with in Kranji.
At Hay Dairies, the only goat farm in Singapore since 1988, second generation farmers John Hay, his wife Doreen produce goat’s milk - a healthy alternative to cow’s milk - from their herd of over 800 goats of mixed breed originating from Minnesota, United States. Thanks to the latest milking, pasteurizing, homogenizing and bottling technology, the goat’s milk they produce has been certified free of antibiotics, preservatives and growth hormones.
Also in the neighbourhood is Quan Fa Organic Farm, an environmentally conscious organic farm that produces pesticide- and GMO-free vegetables, herbs and fruit, while you can find wheatgrass, fresh edible cactuses, aloe vera, mushrooms as well as roselle fruits from Kin Yan Agrotech in Lim Chu Kang Agrotechnology Park, Singapore’s largest commercial, organic wheatgrass farm, and not just frog meat but an innovative new line of products such as Essence of Bullfrog with Ginseng and Cordyceps at Jurong Frog Farm.
(Watch: Beyond The Table With Chelsea Wan of Jurong Frog Farm)
Tired of all the food shopping? Make a stop at Bollywood Veggies, where a variety of fruits and vegetables are grown using resource-saving techniques such as rain-collection ponds, irrigation canals and chemical-free agriculture, and you can enjoy them freshly harvested in Poison Ivy Bistro right onsite.
Farms are not all mom-and-pop businesses. In fact, Kranji is home to one of Singapore’s most well-known egg brands - and its most technologically advanced
Contrary to popular opinion, farming is not at all a backward trade. In fact, Singapore’s farmers have led the way among our regional peers in technologically advancements in recent years. Three decade-old egg farm Seng Choon, for instance, is the first fully automated high-tech poultry farm in the region.
On its 36-acre farm land, you’ll find advanced egg grading machines that upkeep the quality and cleanliness of the eggs, a manure conveyor system to deliver chicken manure from chicken houses to a central treatment area. Also in the works is a biogas plant that will release methane gas from digested chicken manure to power up generators for electricity for use on the farm, as well as other automation and robotics innovations to minimise the use of manpower in the packing process.
At Metropolitan Fishing Group, Singapore’s largest marine fish farm, proprietor Malcolm Ong rears all of his fish without injections, vaccinations and chemicals and each sustainably grown fish is tagged with a QR code tag with suggested recipes and information about the farm.
Meanwhile, Mr Jack NG, inventor and founder of Sky Greens, has devised the world’s first high-rise, low-carbon footprint vertical farming system that achieves significantly higher yields per unit area of land with minimal land, water and energy resources.
Nor is farming a dying trade. There is a new breed of young farmers looking to take farming into the next generation
Helmed by four children of Singapore’s pioneering generation of farmers, the Singapore Young Farmers (SYF) was established in 2015 as the youth wing of Kranji Countryside Association.
To date, it has attracted young farmers, including several in their twenties, all with the aim of fostering a farming community among the youth and inspire the next generation of change-makers to connect and lead the continuity of Singapore’s rustic countryside
