Greenhouse for hands-on agricultural training at Republic Polytechnic

Republic Polytechnic (RP) students can use a new greenhouse facility for hands-on training in agricultural operations and plant development.

The Greenhouse on campus was launched yesterday to enable more than 700 students each year to experiment with farming techniques and explore different methods of growing plants.

The building in Woodlands comprises a naturally ventilated greenhouse, a climate-controlled glass-house and two storeys of laboratories within containers dedicated to supporting more than 20 different types of growing plants.

Other features include a bato bucket system, in which two or more containers filled with plants are connected to the same irrigation and drainage pipes.

This allows water and nutrients to be consistently supplied to plants that require heavy feeding, like tomato and cucumber plants.

Mr Kenneth Yeo, 20, a final-year biotechnology student, said he has learnt a great deal about the complexities of growing plants such as tomato plants in the facility.

Mr Yeo said: "It takes about 14 days for a plant to grow, then we have to do some measurements to check if the plant is growing well. We also have to carry out different types of analysis, such as checking different stress parameters to find out if the plants can grow in certain conditions."

The polytechnic's chief executive and principal, Mr Yeo Li Pheow, said the new facility is part of the school's efforts to support Singapore's goal of producing 30 per cent of the country's nutritional needs by 2030.

"The facility will further deepen RP's engagements and expertise in the agriculture technology space and nurture a pipeline of industry-ready talent," he said.

Speaking at the launch yesterday, Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman said educational institutions such as RP play a vital role in attracting and developing talent for the agriculture technology sector.

Furthermore, Singapore must create more higher-value jobs in the industry if it is to meet its "30 by 30" goal, Dr Maliki added.

"We need to go beyond the traditional methods of farming, and use technology to maximise our limited farming space. This requires new skill sets and talent in the sector," he said.

Dr Maliki noted that Singapore now employs about 2,000 people in the agri-food industry, and it is projected that 4,700 new and redesigned jobs will be created by 2030.