The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has announced the award of $40.5 million for two significant research programmes, under the second phase of the Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D Programme. Aimed at enhancing Singapore’s food security through innovative local capabilities, the two research programmes are:
- Seed Innovation Hub (SIH) programme, and
- AquaPolis R&D Programme.
2 The $22 million Seed Innovation Hub (SIH) programme, led by Professor Chew Fook Tim from the National University of Singapore (NUS), aims to unite local cultivar development research with the support of other local institutions as well as notable industry players such as Syngenta, New Agri-Seed and Singrow under one flagship agriculture domain programme.
3 The SIH will advance Singapore’s breeding strategies to develop higher quality seeds with enhanced traits such as improved growth, yield and nutritional value, specifically tailored for tropical climates and controlled environment agriculture. The project also expands beyond traditional crops like Choy Sum and Kale to include higher-value fruited crops such as capsicum, brinjal and cucumber, as well as specialty greens such as arugula and amaranth.
4 Through efficient breeding strategies and commercial partnerships, plant genetic improvement will be accelerated, and superior seeds and crops could be translated into scalable solutions, boosting food security and establishing a globally competitive urban farming industry. “While plant factories offer climate-resilient food production, Singapore’s Seed Innovation Hub is pioneering the missing piece – developing crops specifically tailored for indoor farming through advanced breeding and genome editing to maximise urban agriculture productivity.” said Professor Chew.
5 Another $18.5 million has been awarded to the AquaPolis R&D Programme, co-led by Associate Professor Christoph Winkler from NUS and Dr Richard Le Boucher from Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL). The project also involves researchers from other local institutes such as A*STAR, James Cook University Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Republic Polytechnic as well as numerous fish farms and leading industry players.
6 The project aims to lower production costs and improve the quality of locally produced Asian seabass through a holistic approach that incorporates breeding, nutrition and disease management. Building on SFS R&D Programme 1.0 findings, the project will develop next-generation high-quality, parasite-resistant fingerlings through selective breeding, with reduced mortality rates. Combined with disease management and advanced feeding strategies, this integrated approach will enhance the nutritional value of locally produced Asian seabass to make our local produce more competitive than imports.
7 Associate Professor Winkler, who is also the Scientific Director at AquaPolis, and Dr Le Boucher, Partnership Director at AquaPolis, said: “This interdisciplinary AquaPolis project will advance science and technology to support Singapore’s sustainable aquaculture strategy, by leveraging the latest scientific technologies in genetics, nutrition, and disease management to increase the resilience and quality of locally farmed Asian seabass, ultimately improving farm productivity. The project will involve eight Institutes of Higher Learning and research institutes/laboratories, and 19 industry collaborators, reflecting the strong academia-industry partnership driving innovation in Singapore’s aquaculture ecosystem.”
8 Both SIH and AquaPolis will advance research capabilities in Singapore and establish a more vibrant agri-food ecosystem through multi-stakeholder collaborations. Details of both programmes are listed in the Annex.
