COS2025: Government support for local farms

       Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of our food. This makes us vulnerable to food supply disruptions, which could arise from factors like climate change, geopolitical developments, and disease outbreaks. To strengthen our food resilience, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) supports and works with our local agri-food industry to build its capability and capacity for local production.

Strengthening the aquaculture value chain through the National Broodstock Centre and Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme

2      SFA has established the National Broodstock Centre (NBC) and Hatchery Development and Recognition Programme (HDRP) to supply genetically superior eggs and fingerlings with higher survival and grow-out rates to our farms.

3      SFA is working with local hatcheries to support their accreditation under the HDRP. Hatcheries that meet high standards* will receive technical training provided by SFA to maintain their capabilities. Hatcheries under the HDRP will be able to access superior fish eggs generated from genetic selective programs undertaken by the NBC.

4 The NBC and HDRP will first focus on Asian seabass, which is commonly farmed and consumed in Singapore. As Singapore’s aquaculture sector develops, there is potential to expand the NBC and HDRP to other species that align with market demand and needs of the industry. SFA will continue to monitor developments and assess opportunities as they arise.

Enhancing the Agri-food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund

5      SFA has enhanced the ACT Fund to provide more comprehensive support. The enhancement incorporates feedback from farms to better address the diverse and emerging needs of the local agri-food sector.

6      The key changes are:

a) Expanding the Technology Upgrading component to cover costs of commonly outsourced services (e.g. marketing and branding), manpower-related cost and cost related to intellectual property rights. This provides a more comprehensive coverage of expenses involved in designing and implementing advanced farming systems.

b) Expanding funding scope of the Technology Upgrading component to cover standalone pre- and post-harvest production facilities, including hatcheries, nurseries and day-old-chick (DOC) farms. Pre-harvest facilities improve the resilience of the local supply chain against supply disruptions while post-harvest facilities help to streamline operations, improve productivity and ensure more consistent product quality

7      SFA will continue to avail space for farming by launching land and sea tenders progressively. SFA will announce details when ready.

* Hatcheries are required to attain the Singapore Good Aquaculture Practice (SG-GAP) certification to ensure adherence to industry standards for aquaculture practices. They must also meet several requirements, including proper management of hatchery facilities (e.g. implement protocols for hatchery processes), creation of traceability protocols, and implementation of biosecurity measures.