Answers to Question 2 !

2) What is the method of agriculture that your group choose?

- Explain your choice based on the Singapore’s land characteristics.

Q2) Ans: The method of agriculture that our group has chosen to use is high-technology farming. We have decided to use this method of agriculture as we have taken in notice the limited amount of land that Singapore offers us as most of the land in Singapore has been devoted to urban development. Thus, we have to use a method that maximizes the use of the small amount of land. High-technology farming is also common among entrepreneurs who develop into agri-businesses. High-technology makes use of modern technology (machinery, robots, computers, satellites, etc.) to maximize the amount of profits and at the same time minimize the cost of production. It can be applied to agriculture of different types as well as scales. Three things make high-technology farming stand out from the other methods of agriculture.

1) The first point is that it helps in reducing the time and amount of work needed to farm the plant which is done through irrigation and improving breeds and seeds. Irrigation is the artificial method of watering the plants. The plants are watered with a series of pipes and sprinklers instead of having men to literally take watering can and water the plants. Irrigation helps to reduce the amount of manpower needed and also saves a lot of time. In addition to the above benefits, irrigation also helps to prevent over-irrigation, where water is depleted and that will lead to soil leaching resulting in soil nutrient being washed away into the groundwater. Improved seeds of papaya plants will result in a healthier crop of papayas. Greenhouses are also useful in trapping heat from sunlight with the help of transparent roofs and walls to help the crops grow better. The soil near the Upper Seletar Reservoir is damp and fertile as it frequently rains in Singapore and fertilizers are added to it.

2) The second point is that it also helps to maximize the amount of profits and at the same time minimize the costs of production through the use of agro-chemicals and farm machinery. Everybody doesn’t want their plantation to die within a few weeks right? Thus the use of organic fertilizers is used to increase farm output per unit of land. Pesticides and weedicides are used to kill pests and unwanted plants as they may lower crop production and leave more nutrients for crops. Other than using agro-chemicals, farm machinery is introduced to raise production as well as to face the problem of labour shortage. Machines replace human labour by helping in farming processes ( ploughing, sowing, harvesting of crops ). Refrigerated trucks, which are used for transport of produce, help to keep the produce fresh.

3) The last point is that diseases are prevented from damaging the produce. Computers are used for greater care for poultry and livestock. Nutrients are given to them for them to grow quickly and healthily. That raises the quality of the produce and that prevents the produce from getting diseases. This will prevent the papayas from getting the “papaya ring spot virus”, which threatened to wipe out Hawaii’s papaya industry completely. It was due to genetically modified papayas that the diseases were unable to spread.