Singapore harvests its first batch of rice grown in a vertical farm

 Rice Today   |  

Singapore harvested the first crop of Temasek rice, a hardy and climate-resistant rice variety, grown in pilot vertical farm.

The variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life Science Laboratory in Singapore. It is a dwarf type with a yield potential of up to 6 tons per hectare. It is tolerant of drought, can survive under floodwater for up to 2 weeks, and is highly resistant to bacterial and fungal diseases.

Although grown commercially in Indonesia, the Temasek rice harvest in Singapore will only be used for research and development on growing crops in urban farm settings.

Read the story at The Strait Times

More on rice and Singapore

Temasek: a high-tech rice variety from Singapore
Singapore is not usually associated with rice production, much less with the development of new rice varieties. So, it may come as a surprise that the highly urbanized city-state is the birthplace of a sturdy high-yielding rice variety designed to cope with extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change.

Known as Temasek, the variety was developed by researchers at the Temasek Life Science Laboratory (TLL) in Singapore. It is a dwarf type with a yield potential of up to 6 tons per hectare. It is tolerant of drought, can survive under floodwater for up to 2 weeks, and is highly resistant to bacterial and fungal diseases. In addition, Temasek is a low-input variety and can be grown with fewer agricultural resources. Although Temasek is a tough plant in the field, its grain is soft, tasty, and rich in dietary fiber, and it has a good aroma when cooked.

Singapore helps build the next generation of rice scientists
In 2013, the Singapore-based Lee Foundation and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) launched a scholarship program to educate and train a new generation of young rice scientists and researchers to help feed Asia in the future.

Known as the Lee Foundation Rice Scholarship Program, it offers South and Southeast Asians in the early stages of their careers a unique opportunity to acquire an excellent education from leading academic institutions in areas such as gene discovery and bioinformatics, modern rice breeding, rice systems of the future, and economics and policy. The program has already granted six postdoctoral fellowship positions, two MS degree scholarships, and 30 PhD scholarships to students from nine countries in South and Southeast Asia.

Singapore urged to host rice futures and spot exchange
Singapore could play a leading role in regional food security and help stabilize rice prices if it took up the opportunity to host a rice futures and a spot exchange, which includes the actual buying and selling of rice for immediate delivery.

In the report, Never an Empty Bowl: Sustaining Food Security in Asia, produced by a high-level international task force on rice-based food security, the need for a rice futures market is highlighted.

1 Comment so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Xianguang Zhang March 8, 2022 at 5:34 pm - Reply

    A very promising product with amazingly encouraging test results of tolerances to abiotic stress (eg. drought and flood water), biotic stresses, and good cooking and/or eating qualities, which must have derived apparently from integrated innovative technologies used.
    Congratulations for the outstanding research and breeding work.

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