新加坡国会：目前已有2300万新币的基金用于提高粮食产量

以下是英文质询内容：

ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL AGRICULTURAL FIRMS TO SUPPORT SINGAPORE'S "30 BY 30" LOCAL FOOD PRODUCTION GOAL（1）

9Ms Poh Li Sanasked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) how will the withdrawal of VertiVegies, a local vertical farm which would have been one of Singapore's largest indoor vegetable farms boosting local production of greens by 10%, affect Singapore's 30-by-30 food security goals; and (b) what are the other measures by the Singapore Food Agency to accelerate the growth of local vegetable production which accounts for around 4 per cent of total food consumption in 2022.

10Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Lingasked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Government will consider plans to support the leveraging or acquiring of requisite intellectual property by local agricultural firms that will support Singapore's 30-by-30 local food production goal; and (b) what support can be provided to companies with agriculture operational knowledge but without full project development capabilities for scale-up farms.

The Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment (Dr Koh Poh Koon) (for the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to answer Question Nos 9 and 10 on today's Order Paper together please?

Mr Speaker: Yes, you do.

Dr Koh Poh Koon: Thank you, Sir. Sir, in our "30 by 30" vision, we aim to build the capability and capacity of the agri-food ecosystem towards productive, resource-efficient and climate-resilient food production. Over the years, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has progressively built the agri-food ecosystem of productive farms, harnessing science and technology to boost production, and preparing the necessary spaces and infrastructure. However, our agri-food sector, like many other sectors, has been facing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic to strong headwinds, such as high inflationary pressures and construction delays, especially during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SFA is working closely with our farms to overcome these challenges through initiatives, such as facilitating regulatory clearances and supporting capability development by co-funding the adoption of technology through the Agri-food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund. To date, the $60 million ACT Fund has committed more than $23 million of co-funding to 60 projects. The ACT Fund can support licensing, acquisition or registration of intellectual property for farming systems and engagement of consultancy, sub-contracting, and design and development services, which can help to increase our food production.

Farms also work with partners, with complementary strengths and capabilities, especially when they are thinking of scaling up. They work with partners that can bring skillsets and capabilities that they may not have. Local farms can also partner food researchers to tap on the Singapore Food Story 2.0 Research and Development (R&D) Programme, which promotes R&D in aquaculture, sustainable urban agriculture, future foods and food safety.

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