Panasonic to double vegetable production


Consumers here can look forward to more home-grown leafy greens from Panasonic, which plans to expand its high-tech indoor vegetable farm and more than double its production by next year.

The Japanese electronics giant is also looking into cultivating seasonal fruit that are usually grown in temperate climates.

It runs a 1,154 sq m indoor farm, about the size of 1½ soccer fields, on the Panasonic Factory Solutions Asia Pacific premises in Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim.

The farm now produces up to 81 tonnes of vegetables a year.

Plans are under way to increase farm size to 1,710 sq m, which will allow it to produce up to 180 tonnes at optimum capacity.

The cultivated varieties include mizuna, oba, leafy lettuce, mini red radish, Swiss chard and baby spinach.

Mr Paul Wong, managing director of Panasonic Singapore, said the company embarked on vertical farming as a viable and efficient means of producing vegetables in a limited space.

Mr Wong said: "We now produce 40 varieties of leafy greens and we want to expand that list.

"Increasing our overall crop production is also in line with our goal to contribute towards Singapore's food security through a stable local supply of leafy greens."

The latest figures from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority show that last year, 11,300 tonnes of vegetables were locally produced, which accounts for 12 per cent of the total vegetable supply. Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food supply.

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