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SINGAPORE – Tampines residents will soon be able to grow their own organic vegetables for personal consumption in a cleaner and more efficient way.
Rather than the traditional method of planting in the ground, Our Tampines Hub offers residents vertical hydroponic kits that can be used to grow vegetables at home, it announced on Saturday (November 21).
The kits, about 1 m wide and just under 2 m high, can hold about 20 plants.
A pilot project will deliver around 50 free kits to residents whose homes are suitable, such as having enough sunlight.
The scheme is part of an initiative called Our Green Hut, which also involves starting a vertical hydroponic farm to produce more than 15 types of vegetables.
Masagos Zulkifli told reporters at Saturday’s launch event: “The biggest plan is to grow food within Tampines. We are launching some rooftop parking gardens that will not only grow vegetables, but also get residents involved in cultivating a commercially viable roof garden. “
About 600 Tampines residents have already expressed interest in the vertical hydroponic project.
“This is just the beginning,” Masagos said. “We don’t want this to be a one-time effort and then they throw the team away.
“We want them to show that they want to do this as an ongoing effort to grow food at home, starting with simple vegetables and then maybe later with more difficult ones.”
This also fuels the larger goal of Singapore meeting 30 percent of its nutritional needs by 2030, a plan that has been advanced due to the coronavirus crisis, Masagos noted, adding: “We must also get involved to understand what we need. growing food at home, so our children understand the technology involved, as well as production and growth. “
Ms. Tan Min Choo, 64, a retired air traffic service officer and volunteer at Our Tampines Hub, is one of the first residents to start growing vegetables like chye sim using the vertical hydroponic kit.
The structure was installed on your balcony about a month before the pilot project.
She said, “I used to live in a kampung (village), so I always liked planting vegetables and I thought there was no problem trying something new.”
The kit ensures that the nutrient-filled water circulates internally so Ms. Tan does not have to water the plants on a daily basis, but simply checks the nutrient level with a meter every few days and adds more nutrients or water if necessary. The plants take about three weeks to harvest.
“This kit makes growing vegetables so clean, while the soil can be dirty and dusty. It also saves space due to the vertical configuration,” he added.
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