She spent more than $700,000 of her retirement savings building a farm in Lim Chu Kang from scratch in 1999, but for Evelyn Eng it’s not just about money.
“It’s a huge waste (of farmland) if everything here is razed,” the 78-year-old said in an interview with AsiaOne.
Once filled with plastics and structural debris 23 years ago, the 2. 2-hectare box (equivalent to the length of 4 football pitches) along Neo Tiew Road in which the Green Circle eco-farm now stands is now capable of generating organic vegetables with “sustainable farming methods,” she says.
But for this farm, the end is near.
The 20-year lease of the land of this farm ended in 2019 and has benefited from a brief extension of the lease due to the pandemic, the land will have to be returned to the government in 3 weeks, Eng said.
The farmer also said she would also be compensated through the government.
For Eng, this farm is not only a source of income, it is also a retirement home for her and her husband. They have since moved in a year ago when their home suffered persistent problems with plumbing and electrical wiring.
Time is running out only for Green Circle Eco-Farm, but also for 62 other farms in the Lim Chu Kang area.
These farms, which include food production, decorative bird and fish farms, as well as orchid nurseries, would disappear until the end of 2021, as the land they are on will be rebuilt for military purposes.
But with the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting relocation plans, farms have secured a final lease extension for up to 14 months to locate a new home, CNA reported in September last year.
Green Circle Eco-Farm ordered packing and moving by July 31, according to Eng.
After authorities rejected a final written appeal for some other lease extension, the veteran farmer said she had exhausted all means to save her “food forest. “
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In an email sent to Eng on April 25, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Environment (MSE) said it could not extend its lease “further” due to the planned progression work.
Faced with the prospect of ruining his farm in just a few weeks, Eng created a petition two weeks ago to raise awareness about the paintings he has made for sustainable farming. More than 3500 people have signed the petition to date.
While clarifying that the petition “is not aimed at continuing its advertising activities,” Eng asked the SFA to take over the farm to “preserve its food forest. “
In his petition, Eng also argued that the estate has a biodiversity-rich ecosystem with many types of plants, bird species, reptiles, squirrels and even civets.
“Over the past 20 years, we have perfected herbal agriculture in a way that restores an herbal habitat for Singapore’s local wildlife, while also serving as a productive and nutritious biological food source for Singaporeans,” Eng said.
Refusing to disclose how much he earns on the farm, Eng said the number of consumers buying his vegetables has decreased due to a change in eating behavior as they “eat for convenience. “
In addition to the fact that there are also no more sources of income from educational visits due to Covid-19 protection distancing measures, he said: “They are resuming now, but there is a sword hanging over our heads. “
But Eng the farm’s “scientific and economic sustainability value” can generate “significant productivity” of biologics, some 120 types of kampong perennial vegetables, flowers and herbs, with minimal maintenance required.
Adding that he doesn’t have a long-term home goal from Green Circle Eco-Farm, Eng said, “I’ll probably take 3 months mentally and continue to live (if the request fails). Right now, all my power is directed at educating as many other people as possible.
“It’s a waste (to lose) all the labor-saving strategies in the way we grow. And sad (to think about it) the prospect of not being able to eat my own cultivated vegetables. “
In its responses to Eng, MSE said the affected farms would have “had the opportunity” to bid for new farmland if they wanted to continue in the industry, but noted that “Green Circle did not participate in the tenders. “
While it has taken into account MSE’s relocation suggestions, uprooting Green Circle Eco-Farm from its current one would be costly, very confusing and laborious, Eng said.
“We deserve to start [the] same procedure [as we did] 22 years ago. It’s very difficult to build land for thriving ecosystems, he said, adding that lately he employs two other people: a part-time accountant and another to “keep the farm running at a minimum. “
AsiaOne has contacted the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), a statutory board of MSE, for comment.
In 2020, the SFA said Lim Chu Kang will be reshaped into a “high-tech agribusiness group” that is part of its long-term vision for farms to produce 30% of Singapore’s nutritional wishes by 2030.
With an extension of more than 390 hectares of land, progressive paintings are expected to begin in 2024, SFA added.
Tenders were awarded to corporations based on various criteria, adding production capacity, production history, as well as innovation and sustainability, the Straits Times reported in March 2021.
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These companies included the Nextgen Farms and Livfresh vegetable farms in Sungei Tengah, as well as the Hay Dairies goat farm. The latter won the tender for one of the 3 plots of land in Lim Chu Kang, Business Times reported in January 2020.
Despite winning the tender with a $500,000 bid, Hay Dairies turned down the land due to structure prices and an inadequate 20-year lease to cover the load of its planned high-tech farm, Today reported in April 2021.
Even the government’s new fund for local farms to adopt generation would not be enough for them with the costs, the company’s owner, Leon Hay, said at the time.
Although the land on which Green Circle Eco-Farm is located lately is included in the master plan, Eng told AsiaOne that achieving maximum food productivity “would come at a high cost. “
“Not only in terms of a lot of money spent on infrastructure, but we will add more concrete to the land,” he said, adding that urban agriculture projects in “vertical buildings” proposed through the SFA can contribute to climate change. .
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chingshijie@asiaone. com