Mr Webster Tham, co-founder of local agri-technology company Tomato Town, is looking to harvest Japanese cherry tomatoes and heirloom varieties of tomatoes through a collaboration with a Japanese company that makes tomato-based foods and vegetable juices.
By leveraging the Japanese firm's farming expertise and using a special variety of its heat-resilient seeds, Mr Tham is hoping to grow tomatoes that can withstand Singapore's hot and humid weather. In early September, United Arab Emirates-based agri-food tech company Future Food Foundry invested US$20 million (S$26 million) to merge two local farms in Singapore – Sustenir and NextGen Farms – to "develop the largest plant superfood ecosystem in Singapore".
While the future is uncertain for local farms amid growing cost pressures and the lack of robust local demand, they are seeing opportunities to foster international collaboration and seed the way forward.
Read more at Asia News Network.