You’ll know Peter Barber is a father who loves feeding his family if you watch his YouTube cooking videos at Dad’s Simple Meals. In his own way, he is also helping to feed countless families. ComCrop, a vegetable farm he has led as CEO since 2018, is Singapore’s first and only commercial rooftop farm.
Each month, 135,000 plants (or 65,000 packets of vegetables) are grown in greenhouses on a sprawling factory building in Woodlands for delivery to FairPrice supermarkets and online grocer RedMart. “With some refinement”, Barber says, the farm should produce over 200 tonnes per annum. Chye sim, bok choy, butterhead lettuce, and basil are among the crops grown on the rooftop.
A recipient of the Singapore Food Agency 30×30 Express grant aimed at ramping the nation’s capacity to meet 30 per cent of nutritional needs with food produced locally by 2030, the recently expanded complex of hydroponic greenhouses uses automated growing systems to optimise space and reduce manpower. An on-site weather station also monitors conditions and controls supplemental lighting for a consistent daily harvest.
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