SINGAPORE – Local farms will receive expanded support to raise productivity, adopt technology and gain access to higher-quality livestock under a new suite of initiatives announced on March 4 by the Ministry for Sustainability and the Environment (MSE).

According to reporting by Ang Qing in The Straits Times, the new measures aim to strengthen productivity and food security amid rising global uncertainties and supply chain risks.

A key move is a $70 million top-up to the existing Agri-food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund, to be disbursed from April over five years, Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Zaqy Mohamad told Parliament during the debate on his ministry’s budget.

The enhanced fund will continue to support farms in adopting new technologies, while expanding its scope to co-fund strategic partnerships between farms and other “ecosystem players”. These collaborations aim to develop solutions that can benefit multiple farms at once, such as integrated delivery systems that lower transport costs and improve product freshness.

The new funding component was introduced following industry feedback, Mr Zaqy said.

Higher-quality baby fish and shrimp

To strengthen aquaculture, the Government will include red snapper in a national breeding programme launched in 2024, which currently supplies Asian sea bass and marine tilapia to local farms.

“These premium fingerlings grow faster, survive better and convert feed more efficiently,” Mr Zaqy said. “That means farms reach market quicker with lower feed costs and fewer losses.”

The move will also reduce farms’ reliance on imported baby fish, which often have inconsistent quality and lower survival rates due to transport stress.

Source: Singapore Food Agency/The Strait Times -->

Beyond fish, the Government will support industry-led efforts to increase the supply of whiteleg shrimp and grouper. These efforts will be complemented by an integrated hatchery support programme, helping local hatcheries adopt specialised feeds and quality vaccines to maximise growth and disease resistance.

“High-quality eggs and fingerlings set the foundation, but health and nutrition inputs determine whether farms achieve optimal growth and disease resistance,” Mr Zaqy added.

Rethinking local production targets

Mr Zaqy was outlining measures to bolster Singapore’s flagging farming sector, while acknowledging the Republic’s vulnerability as a country heavily reliant on imports.

“We must stay prepared for rising geopolitical tensions and trade restrictions which could disrupt our food supply,” he said, noting that recent developments in the Middle East underscore the global climate of uncertainty.

On local production, he said the Government had learnt from its experience with the former “30 by 30” target – to produce 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs locally by 2030 – which was dropped in November 2025 following a spate of farm closures.

In 2024, Singapore produced 3 per cent of its vegetables and 6 per cent of its seafood, both figures having declined over the past four years. Eggs were the exception, with local production rising steadily to 34.4 per cent that year.

How Singapore's farming scene has fared over the years | Local production of seafood further declined in 2024 | Local production as a percentage of total consumption

The target was shelved amid high capital and energy costs, supply chain breakdowns and weakened investor confidence.

Responding to Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang West), Mr Zaqy said Singapore’s refreshed local production targets now focus on fibre and selected protein types that can be produced efficiently at scale.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA), which comes under the MSE, has set a new target of producing 20 per cent of the country’s consumption of fibre – a category comprising leafy and fruited vegetables, bean sprouts and mushrooms.

Zaqy Mohamad — in Pasir Ris fish farm, Singapore. Source: Facebook

“We also have to be realistic about economics,” Mr Zaqy said. “Our local farms will always face higher land and production costs compared to farms from the region.”

Technology adoption and safeguards

Addressing questions from Ms Lee Hui Ying (Nee Soon GRC) and Mr Cai Yinzhou (Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC), Mr Zaqy said the next tranche of co-funding under the ACT Fund will support technology demonstration projects, especially in aquaculture.

Some technologies that perform well overseas may not be suitable for Singapore’s small-scale, tropical marine aquaculture environment, the ministry and SFA said in a joint statement.

Through these projects, SFA will work with farms and technology providers to test solutions in real operating conditions before farms commit significant investments. Possible areas of focus include vaccination machines.

Zaqy Mohamad — in Pasir Ris fish farm, Singapore. Source: Facebook

A ministry spokesperson said SFA will prioritise support for capital expenditure rather than operating costs, to ensure funding remains sustainable.

Under the first tranche of the ACT Fund, $55 million was awarded to nearly 150 projects, enabling the installation of technologies such as automated irrigation systems and climate-controlled environments for year-round production.

Responding to Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC), Mr Zaqy said 60 companies had received funding in the first tranche. Only about two have since folded – a failure rate of roughly 3 per cent.

Early warning systems and resilience

Singapore will also upgrade its model to predict harmful algal blooms, which can devastate aquaculture harvests when sea surface temperatures rise.

One of the most severe incidents occurred in 2015 in the Strait of Johor, when 77 coastal farms lost millions of dollars. One farmer estimated his losses at $1.3 million.

Zaqy Mohamad — in Pasir Ris fish farm, Singapore. Source: Facebook

The enhanced model will integrate forecasted weather conditions for more accurate environmental predictions, enabling farms to act ahead of anticipated events. Mr Zaqy noted that a new risk monitoring dashboard and food supply visibility tool had already expedited risk assessments during Brazil’s avian influenza outbreak in May 2025 and the recent Middle East conflict.

While the original “30 by 30” strategy had “successfully catalysed local production growth”, Mr Zaqy said focusing mainly on one pillar – growing local – left Singapore vulnerable to the very disruptions it sought to address.

“A single-pillar approach, no matter how ambitious, cannot provide the food supply resilience that Singapore needs,” he said.

Nevertheless, local production remains an important pillar of food security. “Local farms can provide us with a regenerative source of fresh food that is maintained even during prolonged disruptions,” he added, noting that more farms are moving towards controlled environments that are climate-resilient and land-efficient.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu warned that climate change will likely intensify supply disruptions.

“We will continue to innovate and take collective action to ensure Singapore’s basic needs are met, even in times of disruption,” she said.