Today, an news article of the same title on CNA reported that the recent spell of hot weather in Singapore has led to damaged crops and depleted livestock yields.
Recent outdoor temperatures of 36 to 37°C have equalled the country's 40-year temperature record. According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), this has been caused by strong solar heating & weaker wind conditions.
This has shrunk produce & delayed harvest, by up to 20%. For livestock, warmer weather causes animals to put more energy into regulating their body temperatures than growing up. Thus they need more time to mature in size.
In terms of vegetables grown in commercial farms, warner temperatures encourage pest infestation such as mites & aphid attacks or fungal & bacteria growth. These issues can stunt the growth of crops & delay harvests.
Dr Vinod Thomas from the Asian Institute of Management believes that the heat will slow down Singapore's goal to produce 30% of nutritional needs locally by 2030.
He noted that farmers globally are facing the same situation & commented that in Southeast Asia, several countries are seeing increased food prices because of the shrinking produce.
*Dr Thomas thinks that this is caused by climate change & stressed that more must be done to combat it.
Our Takeaway
It is unfortunate that many external environmental factors can affect food & crop production. This is especially true for outdoor farms & greenhouses.
Indoor commercial farms are better protected against weather elements but they cannot escape the higher operational costs such as increased air conditioning costs or increased water usage. All these lead to higher food prices for consumers.
These issues once again highlight the importance of decentralising food production to the household level. Households need to start producing their own supply of food, at least at a certain level, to hedge against external environmental factors & rising food prices.
This should be one of the main strategies for food security in land scarce countries & cities like Singapore. At this point, it seems that policymakers have failed to realise this (unless there are hidden intentions).
All signs are pointing towards a coming food revolution where every individual household has to grow their own produce at home & take part in self-sufficient food communities.
Whether we get there by choice or by force of transpiring events determines the ease or pain of transition. It is entirely up to us.
That is why at Grow Big Grow Home, our mission is to create anti-fragile, self-sufficient food communities by empowering people to grow organic, fresh produce at home.
Our Grow System 157 helps people to do that easily at scale. You can grow ≥157 vegetables, baby greens or microgreens in the comforts of your home & harvest them fresh in weeks.
We are doing the same with F&B businesses like cafes & restaurants, helping them grow nutritious, clean & fresh greens onsite – actualising farm-to-table in a matter of seconds!
What You Can Do
Food supply is rapidly declining across many parts the world. When that happens to a large enough extent, it is expected of typical food exporting countries to stop exporting (in order to feed their own people) & food importers to scramble for scraps.
When this happens, the quantity & quality of food that are available to us will be compromised. We may even be forced to eat commercially farmed insects, plant-based / highly-processed meat & lab-grown / genetically modified meat – that are full of carcinogens.
What we can do as health-loving individuals & communities?
- Start growing your own food, as much as possible
- Join communities like Grow Big Grow Home & connect with like-minded people
Take action now, while there is still time to pick it up comfortably. It is never too early to start growing your own real, healthy & fresh food. We encourage you to do so with our high-yielding hydroponics Grow System 157.
Notes:
This article expresses our perspective on a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) news piece – https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-farms-damaged-crops-depleted-livestock-yields-recent-hotter-warmer-weather-higher-temperatures-3508216
*We do not subscribe to the climate change agenda peddled by mainstream media & used by unelected organisations like WEF, UN, WHO to vilify conventional agriculture, real food, fossil fuels – to push fake food factories, "green" technologies, decarbonising & carbon credits onto the largely unsuspecting masses. Check out the other articles for more information on this topic.