Another thing that farmers would like: More understanding from the government.

One example of a shining light in high-tech farming here exists at the Tampines Round Market and Food Centre, where an unassuming grey shipping container sits, seemingly idle, a few feet away from the car park.

But it is, in fact, Singapore’s first urban fish farm in a container, dubbed “Our Fish Storey”, developed by local startup Aqualita Ecotechnology and supported by Temasek Foundation.

"We're constructing fully autonomous farms alongside manual farms across Japan and Southeast Asia. Our goal is to stay at the forefront of vertical farming innovations, which is why we have a co-research farm based in Osaka, collaborating with the local university on the most current research," says Hernan Ocampos, the Section Head of the Food Tech Department at Espec Mic Corp.

Espec Mic has been involved in horticulture and vertical farming since 1988, Espec Mic and has expanded its expertise to include climate chambers, greenhouses, vertical farms, hydroponics, nurseries, growing cabinets, and urban greening solutions.

Seawater Cubes has developed a unique RAS designed to produce nearly 8 tonnes of fish from units made from four shipping containers and has recently moved from the pilot to the commercial phase

A single container is as productive as a traditional pond that covers 0.13 hectares." According to Chen, container fish farming uses 95 percent less water and 50 percent less human labor than traditional fish farming

Shipping container aquaponics is an alternative urban environment created for the production of growing crops

A Shrimpbox farm system enables farmers to become vertical aquaculture farming operations. This includes cargo containers that can be located even in landlocked areas and moved accordingly to suit production needs