The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) awarded more than SGD23 million (17.3 million) in funding to 12 projects under the grant call for research and development in “Sustainable Urban Food Production”. The grant call will provide funding support for innovative research projects that address challenges facing the tropical aquaculture and urban agriculture industries. 

Among the 12 awarded proposals, eight are in the domain of aquaculture and four in urban agriculture. These proposals incorporated innovative ideas and solutions that are aligned with the grant objectives to increase the productivity of local food producers, taking into consideration factors such as cost-effectiveness, resource use efficiency, sustainability and climate resilience. The proposals also demonstrated good potential to be scaled up and applied in Singapore and other countries based on their track record, industry experience and research team.

Lim Kok Thai, Chief Executive Officer of SFA said that "with challenges that impact global food security such as climate change, rising population and decreasing land for agricultural use, R&D holds the key to the future of food. The awarded proposals have shown both innovation and practicality for application and I have every confidence that the outcomes of their research will bring us closer towards a more resilient, sustainable and vibrant agri-tech sector in Singapore.”

The awarded aquaculture projects are:

• Achieving a sustainable aquaculture environment by specialized microbes, National University of Singapore (NUS), E and ST Environmental Pte Ltd.
• Combinatorial supplementation of fish feeds through encapsulation for enhanced growth rates in aquaculture, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Tropical Futures Institute-James Cook University Singapore, Opal Resources Pte Ltd.
• Developing genetic resources for red snapper, an important marine food fish for Singapore, Republic Polytechnic (RP), Tropical Futures Institute-James Cook University Singapore, Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Singapore Aquaculture Technologies (SAT), Blue Ocean Harvest, Aquaculture Centre for Excellence (ACE).
• Development of innovative strategies for disease management in aquaculture to increase production and ensure food safety, A*STAR-Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), Temasek Polytechnic (TP).
• Multipronged approach toward vaccine development against Scale Drop Disease Virus (SDDV) in Asian seabass, A*STAR -Infectious Diseases (ID) Labs, A*STAR -Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), A*STAR -Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), Uvaxx Pte Ltd.
• Optimizing feeds for Singaporean red snapper, Aquaculture Tropical Futures Institute-James Cook University Singapore, Singapore Food Agency (SFA), Singapore Aquaculture Technologies (SAT).
• Oral and immersion vaccines against viruses in Asian seabass, National University of Singapore (NUS), Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL).
• Supercharging barramundi production through advanced selective breeding for improved disease resistance, growth and fillet traits, Tropical Futures Institute-James Cook University Singapore, Wageningen University, Barramundi Asia, Uvaxx Pte Ltd.

Photo source:  Singapore Food Agency.