Requirements to Start a Farm in Singapore

SFA, together with various government agencies and SAFEF, conducted a land-based farm workshop to share information about starting a farm in Singapore. You may refer to the following presentation slides:

• SFA presentation slides
• BCA presentation slides
• MOM presentation slides
• PUB presentation slides
• SCDF presentation slides
• SAFEF presentation slides

A guide on the key processes for finding an indoor farming space can be found below:

Guide for Setting Up an Indoor Farm

To help urban farmers find premises, SFA and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) have compiled an annually updated Space Directory listing potential spaces for urban farms. Please note that the use of these spaces for urban farming is still subject to approval from the relevant authorities.

For Jurong Town Corporation (JTC)'s industrial spaces, the farming scheme is an interim measure which is subject to a cap based on Gross Floor Area (GFA) allowed for farming and tenure. Please check with JTC for details.

Engage a Qualified Person (QP) / Naval Architect who is familiar with and understands farm development or related projects, as well as the regulatory requirements. They can:

• help you to translate your farm plan into drawings for endorsement by SFA and other relevant agencies
  
• advise you on regulatory requirements and ensure your farm plan is compliant with the requirements of the relevant agencies.

Prepare your farm plan and the required documents required with the help of a QP/Naval Architect. The submission should include the following documents:

• authorisation letter from the farm owner to appoint a QP/ Naval Architect to represent the farm owner in seeking clearances from relevant agencies
  
• justification for proposed works
  
• site plan
  
• section plans
  
• elevation plans
  
• floor plan (for buildings or sheltered structures)
  
• roof plan (for buildings or sheltered structures)
  
• schedule for proposed works
  

Allocate 20-30 minutes to log into CORENET to submit your farm plan.

Please check your submission carefully. If there are subsequent amendments to the farm plan, the revised plans will still need to be submitted by a QP/ Naval Architect to the relevant agencies.

Once SFA has endorsed your plan, your QP / Naval Architect can proceed to seek clearance from the relevant agencies.

Visitor amenities for agri-land farms

Given the limited land for agriculture and aquaculture use, there is a need to maximise the productivity of our farms to strengthen our food security.

Farms are required to use at least 90% of the farm area for production and production-related uses. Visitor amenities are considered an ancillary use (e.g. office, carpark, and workers’ quarters) and must be capped within 10% of the farm area.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has guidelines for farm operators interested in including visitor amenities in farms, as follows:

If you would like to include visitor amenities on your farm, you will need to submit:

• development plans for the proposed visitor amenities
• business proposals

The plans must be cleared with URA and other relevant agencies. A Land Betterment Charge will be levied for the visitor amenities, if applicable.

Visitor amenities for sea-based fish culture farms

As sea space is limited, only farming activities are permitted. Fish culture farms are not allowed to host non-farming activities, such as commercial tours and fishing trips.