The Singapore-based company is working to resilient, self-sustaining urban farming systems that deliver long-term food security, nutritional health, and economic sustainability for densely populated cities like Singapore.
“We want to revolutionise farming… We didn’t expect ourselves to the first kid on the block, but we want to be the last man standing,” said Oh Puay San, co-founder of Keshet Agritech.
“We’ve spent our time in R&D building something that can work in cities – a food system of solutions for urban planners. We wanted to build something that could reside in Singapore that could overcome real estate cost, energy cost, water cost, labour cost, and still grow food of high quality, that can be harvested at the right time.”Speaking to AgTechNavigator at the Asia Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit held in November, Oh said the entire greenhouse structure as well as the key technologies that enabled it were developed by the company over a decade.
“We found the best of the best. Around 50 experts from various fields from material science, agriculture, agronomy to engineer the world’s first fully enclosed stainless-steel greenhouse, made from 316L stainless steel.”
Solving the energy conundrum
The company made energy consumption a top priority, recognising that failing to address it would undermine the entire concept.
“Most farms use LED lights – and a lot of farms have failed. Energy is expensive in a city like Singapore. Today it’s 30-cents per kilowatt, next it will be 33-cents per kilowatt – we didn’t want to take that risk. We wanted to make sure our food would be resilient again these shocks too,” said Oh.
The company developed a custom fibre-optic system that pipes natural sunlight indoors at zero energy cost, emphasising that it is not solar-powered and involves no light storage.
Oh said that this fibre-optic light system is entirely the firm’s own invention.
Additionally, the structure has an 85% thermal transfer break, meaning it can block 85% of exterior temperature from the interior environment.
“We can maintain the environment inside at 25 degrees, even without air conditioning, saving a lot of energy. It has six layers of filtration that can filter out pollutants, pest, chemicals, everything,” said Oh.
The 538 square metre facility processes 2,500 cubic meters of air every hour to ensure constant fresh air
“The structure itself really is an energy saving structure, and it’s very resilient. It’s earthquake-proof and can withstand monsoon rains and wind speeds of up to 160 miles per hour. It can withstand it all.”
Ag for the people
The firm is set to unveil its first greenhouse in the city-state and aiming to start selling its produce in the first half of next year.
According to the firm, it is able to grow more than 50 types of crops. Its priority is growing food that meets the nutritional needs of people.
“At Keshet, we have the ability to grow more than 50 types of food. It’s not about going for high value crops because of better price and profit margin. It should be strategically according to the nutritional needs of the nation. For example, in Singapore and its ageing population, there is a real need for B12, D and protein in our people’s diet. Our crop decision is strategically geared crops that will provide these needs in order to solve the real issue of redeeming the health of the people,” said Oh
Farming, she added, should not be about producing food for its own sake but about addressing the real issues and needs of the times.
“It can no longer be about food security but health. Without health, there is no performance. Modern diets of today are nutritionally deficient or imbalance, causing a widening gap between health span vs lifespan. We are taking another step before everybody else – this is how the economy and human race develops.”