When Bao Shengjie first arrived in Singapore for his PhD studies a decade ago, he noticed that strawberries here tasted drastically different from those he had enjoyed in Ningbo, China.
The molecular biologist dug deeper and found two main reasons for Singapore’s sour berries. “One, strawberries sold here are harvested prematurely in order to accommodate the long shipping time to arrive in Singapore. Two, the ‘ever-bearing’ strawberry variety available here has a longer shelf life but is sour in taste,” Bao tells The Edge Singapore.
He wondered if anything could be done to bring tastier strawberries to Singapore. The thought stuck with him throughout his studies at the National University of Singapore, and it eventually became the driving force behind Singrow, the agri-genomics firm Bao founded in 2019.
“Agri-genomics is the application of genomics to agriculture, which can help farmers grow better crops with higher yield,” says Bao. “It is done through gene-editing, which is the alteration of plants’ existing genes to improve or change the plant’s performance, allowing produce to grow faster and better than conventional breeding, and at a much lower cost.”
Four years on, Bao and his team are ready to unveil their sweet solution: the world’s first climate-resilient strawberry variety. While strawberries from South Korea, Japan and China grow best between 5°C and 15°C, Singrow’s strawberries thrive in tropical climates at between 20°C and 28°C.
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Singrow announced this breakthrough in February, calling it a “game-changer” in the global fight against food insecurity and malnutrition. “Following the success of the Singrow strawberry variety, we have started to apply this innovative technology to other crop segments, including rice, corn and other staple fruits and vegetables that form a huge part of our everyday diet,” says Bao.
Now, Singrow is bringing its strawberries, and the associated technology, beyond our shores. At the official opening of its new farm on April 11, Singrow announced expansions into Malaysia and Thailand, via memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreements signed with two franchise farms, TreeGrow and Preino Co.
Working with partner farms will allow Singrow to produce its climate-resilient strawberry a hundred times faster, says the company.
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Singrow is also making inroads into China — a leading strawberry producer. In Singrow’s next phase of development, the company plans to bring the patented crop varieties and biotechnology intellectual properties developed in Singapore to China’s commercial market.
“We are excited to establish these agreements with our partners from Malaysia and Thailand and are on course to expand Singrow’s presence in China as well,” says Bao. “These mark the first few steps, as we scale the commercialisation of our unique Singrow crop varieties, and we look forward to achieving global success together with our ecosystem partners.”
Since starting in a repurposed sports hall, Singrow’s new R&D farm in Science Park Drive measures about 300 sq m. “Once we reach full production, we’ll be able to produce more than 7.2 tonnes of strawberries per year,” says Bao. “That’s at least four times more productive than a conventional farm from Japan or China at the same scale.”
Singapore’s strong innovation climate and supporting infrastructure make it well-positioned for agritech companies to grow, says Bao.
“There are many accelerator systems to help companies grow. National University of Singapore [NUS] offers a Graduate Research Innovation Programme, which Singrow was part of and was what started our journey,” adds Bao. “Our R&D lab is also currently housed within NUS’s Agritech Centre, allowing us to access cutting-edge R&D equipment at a discounted rate.”
Bao has been an NUS research fellow since 2017 and is also an adjunct lecturer at the university’s Department of Biological Sciences.
Some 100 job seekers are expected to make the switch into agritech by 2024 with help from a career conversion programme launched in January 2022 by Workforce Singapore, Singapore Food Agency and Republic Polytechnic. “This helps to alleviate the burden of manpower in the agritech sector [and] will definitely help attract more Singaporeans to embark on a career in agritech,” says Bao.
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As of January 2022, the agritech sector employed about 2,000 people here. By 2030, some 4,700 new and redesigned jobs are expected to be created within the field.
Rice, corn and sustainable palm oil
Singrow says its genome technology will transform the US$12 trillion ($16 trillion) agriculture industry, as it looks to apply the same technology to other crop varieties.
“We are in the late-stage research phase of producing a drought-resistant rice variety, which takes nearly 50% less water for the rice to grow,” says Bao. “We are also in the late-stage research phase for an early flowering rice variety that quickens the growth process for rice and increases farming cycles for rice growers.”
Other novel crop varieties developed by Singrow include rice, corn, sustainable palm oil and staple vegetables.
The prevalent practice of “slash and burn” in palm oil plantations is a major driver of deforestation and a cause of regional haze. So, what exactly is sustainable about Singrow’s palm variety?
Bao says his team is working with farmers to develop seedlings that bloom more frequently and in a shorter period of time. Singrow is also developing dwarf palm trees, which will be safer for plantation workers when harvesting fruit.
Shorter trees also make for less biomass and emissions, if or when farmers choose to cut them down for burning.
“Palm oil’s farming challenges run deep and wide, and it will not change overnight,” says Bao. “What Singrow is doing is utilising our genomics-based farming methods to improve production while reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers. We hope this can be the start of more long-term solutions while the palm oil sector looks to address its systemic challenges.”
Space to grow
Singrow says its strawberries are currently being sold to businesses in bulk orders, and the team is working with the relevant authorities to expand their distribution channels.
Singapore may forge ahead with its “30 by 30” plan — to produce 30% of the nation’s nutritional needs by 2030 — but it remains to be seen if Singaporeans are willing to increase their grocery spend to support homegrown produce.
Singapore-based start-up UglyFood, for example, closed in January after seven years in business. The company, which raised US$120,000 in a pre-seed round, took in blemished and excess fruits from importers, supermarkets and wholesalers to sell online and at its shop at Gambas Crescent.
Bao expects Singrow’s strawberry farm to be self-sustaining as a business, “despite the high rates of rental, power and electricity in Singapore”.
“We’ve largely lowered the energy cost compared to other indoor vertical farms; our electricity usage is 40% lower, but we are growing higher-value crops compared to them,” says Bao. “That’s the secret behind our business. Once we reach production, even with a smaller farm, we’ll be able to make some profits.”
Singrow currently employs a team of 13 staff in its Singapore office. To date, the company has raised US$1.6 million in seed funding from investors including AgFunder, Easternwind, Enterprise Singapore (via investment arm Seeds Capital), NUS Technology Holdings, Pasudeco & Co and Ritz Venture Capital.
The pandemic disrupted food supply chains across the globe, and provides a firm reminder that we cannot take food security for granted, Bao notes.
Singrow is now looking to expand to markets where agricultural challenges have been exacerbated by climate changes and natural disasters. ”By investing in technology and R&D, agriculture companies can sow the seeds of self-sufficiency for our future,” he says.
