A low-tech initiative to grow vegetables in Singapore

Brut America

To feed the millions of people who live in Singapore, this firm is developing a farming technique that's efficient and clean: hydroponics. Here is how they do it.   With Low-tech Lab - Nomade des Mers

Transcript

00:00Oh

00:30We are having a hydroponics farm on top of a rooftop.

00:34It just happens that this rooftop happens to be on top of a commercial shopping area

00:38here in Singapore.

00:39And what we're doing is we are actually having a farm that's growing vegetables for the community.

00:46Singapore is a very unique country.

00:48We import about 90% of the food, which means that our local farmers only produce about

00:5410% of the food.

00:55So this means that most of our food is brought from overseas and this has a significant impact

01:01on our food security, as well as the carbon footprint because of all the food miles that's

01:06travelled.

01:07So by having farms close to people, what this means is that we can cut down on the distance

01:14that food needs to travel before it reaches the consumers.

01:17On top of that, consumers also get to have fresher vegetables and definitely that's healthier

01:24vegetables.

01:25This type of hydroponics divides by 10 the quantity of water needed to grow vegetables.

01:31It doesn't require any pesticides or chemicals and you can be very productive in a very small

01:37surface.

01:38Well, we are on a very small sort of rooftop, so we have about 3,000 square feet and within

01:45this 3,000 square feet of land, we can grow about 12,000 vegetables at any one time.

01:51I certainly hope that wherever we see an empty rooftop, we can always look and see

01:57how it can be converted into something meaningful for the community.

02:02I'll show you how to make low-tech hydroponics.

02:51I'll show you how to make low-tech hydroponics.

03:20This is a biofilter where bacteria transform those organic wastes into nutrients.

03:47This is a biofilter where bacteria transform those organic wastes into nutrients.

04:17Just remove the lowest leaves and plant it.

04:38To feed the plants, you have to add some organic wastes.

04:41For example, compost juice.

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