Sumitomo Chemical launches joint urban farming project in Singapore

Sumitomo Chemical has recently launched an urban farming research and development project jointly with the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), holding an opening ceremony of the project's hydroponic facilities in Singapore on November 23.

Aiming to develop an optimized hydroponics farming system for leafy vegetables in an urban rooftop environment, based on Japanese agricultural technology, the project is undertaken jointly by AVA, which supports local urban farming to increase food supply resilience with limited land in Singapore, and Sumitomo Chemical, which is extensively developing agriculture-related business globally. Under the project, leafy vegetables will be brought into test cultivation in a greenhouse with the hydroponics technology using sunlight, seeking to achieve higher productivity and better quality of farm products than those hitherto available from conventional farming or cultivation systems.

Sumitomo Chemical assumes overall responsibility for overseeing the entire project, and other participants from Japan in the project include Kaneko Seeds Co., which has superior technologies in such fields as seeds and hydroponics, and SanTerra Co., a Sumitomo Chemical's group company possessing specialized expertise in greenhouse. From Singapore, AVA and Ngee Ann Polytechnic, an institution of higher education, take part in the project. Singapore’s Ministry of National Development and the Singapore Economic Development Board also provide support for the project.

Sumitomo Chemical expects that the project will help establish by 2018 a basic model for promoting sustainable urban farming, making it a platform for the Company to expand the urban farming business in Asia and also in the rest of the world in the years ahead.