Cloudy with a chance of unaffected produce: Urban farms stay resilient against weather

Solar panel at ComCrop help to offset the cost of installing LED lights on cooler times in some ways.

” Commonly for rain seasons,… &nbsp, the lights in the greenhouses may be affected because of the continued periods of overcast or rainy days, and that would slow down the development of the plants,” said Mr. Tan.

However, we also have additional light that we can turn on to ensure that the vegetation keep growing at the same rate as they did before.

The farm’s LED lighting can increase its electricity bills by up to 20 %, but their rainwater harvesting system, which helps keep 60 % on water bills during colder months, is able to offset this.

Backyard FARMING

Small-scale ranches he helps may not have such means, according to industrial farming expert Christopher Leow, but commercial ranches can rely on technology and facilities to survive the harsh weather, including cheap shelters that are built.

” For many of the other small-scale (or ) micro farms … farms in schools and hospitals … often, there is no luxury to build these structures, or it’s not possible to do so… their crops are fully exposed to the environment”, he said.

” Plan the plants according to the temperature is the only thing we can do,” says the president.