Nandini Krishnan
With growing concerns over food security due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are looking at ways for Singapore to increase its local food supply. With the land area available, it's easy to assume that it would be impossible to grow much. However, a solution lies in creative urban farming, that maximizes the little land that is available.
Groups like Woha try to incorporate nature into their architecture resulting in stunning buildings, like Parkroyal on Pickering street. They use rooftops as spaces for edible plants, but they also serve as a place for those working inside offices to feel calm and connected with nature. They also combine this with aquaponics and rainwater collection systems to create a system that purposes both aesthetics and functionality.
Another really important and interesting way to urban farm, comes from fish farmers based all over the island. Using an aquaculture system, they are able to produce 200kg of seafood a week, and unlike those who catch fish from the sea, their system doesn’t harm marine habitats.
An aquaculture system purifies and reoxygenates the water in fish tanks, maintaining optimal conditions for the fish. Check out this youtube video to learn more
Citiponics
Furthermore, Citiponics is doing amazing work with rooftop gardens on car parks. They use them to grow over 25 species of vegetables and herbs, and have a pipe system to push up nutrients to the top of the building. Additionally, they have water in continuous motion to prevent issues like mosquito breedings.
With growing interest towards urban farming and hydroponics, it’s interesting to look at local solutions that have been running for quite some time. Furthermore, there are online guides for those interested in this area to create their own home based gardening system.
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