Nurseries, farms badly hit by higher expenses during dry spell

SINGAPORE — Nurseries have seen their water bills balloon after they had to water their plants more frequently. Ponds that vegetable farms in Lim Chu Kang and Bukit Batok use to irrigate their crops are drying up. School fields have also been damaged.

Across the island, individuals, organisations and businesses have been affected by the record dry spell. With the dry weather expected to continue until the middle of next month, water consumption levels have already gone up in the past week.

In response to TODAY’s queries, national water agency PUB said it has observed a slight increase of about 15 million gallons per day in water usage on average last week, an amount equivalent to about 27 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Before showers in some parts of the island on the weekend of Feb 8 and 9, less than 1mm of rain had fallen on any day between Jan 13 and Feb 8. The 27-day dry spell is a new record, beating the previous mark of 18 days set in 2008.

At five nurseries and floriculture businesses along Thomson Road, the plants are being watered twice a day — up from the usual once daily. This has led to water bills doubling or even tripling in some cases.

Candy Floriculture Director Sharon Goh said: “Customers whom we do plant maintenance work for have also been complaining that their water bills have increased as they need to water their plants more. We can’t do anything about it, unless it rains.”

Some of the nurseries, including Green Gween Landscape Design & Construction, will be erecting additional solar netting to provide more shade for the plants. Green Gween owner John Gwee said: “If it doesn’t rain for another one, two months, it’ll be pretty bad for the industry.”

Hawaii Landscape Executive Director Lilian Koh said since last month, her monthly water bills have increased from the usual S$300 to about S$600. Noting that Singapore experienced wet weather during the same period last year, she said: “This dry spell is quite unusual.”

Vegetable farms are also feeling the impact. Eden Garden Farm owner Chan Yow Tiong, 62, said the pond at his farm has shrunk by half. “If it doesn’t rain for the next three weeks, we are in trouble,” he said.

Some farmers have seen a drop in their harvest. GHH Vegetables is producing only 3kg of vegetables per day, compared with the usual yield of 30 to 40kg, said its Business Development Manager Abby Ong, 26. As an interim measure, Ms Ong said the farm is buying vegetables from other farms to meet orders.

Yili Vegetation and Trading Managing Director Alan Toh said his farm’s harvest has gone down by 20 per cent. He added that he expects his water bill to increase as he has started using potable water to water his vegetables.

Trees across the island are largely still holding up quite well, the National Parks Board said. It noted that during this dry spell, there have been days that were unusually cool and less moisture was lost from the trees. Nevertheless, it has taken some measures, such as watering newly-planted young saplings and significant trees, such as Heritage Trees, with non-potable water.

The dry spell has also affected activities at some schools. TODAY understands that SJI Junior, for instance, has been conducting its Physical Education lessons in the school’s indoor hall. Its field has been damaged by the dry weather.

Meanwhile, a Ministry of Education spokesperson said the ministry has reminded schools to exercise extra care when conducting outdoor physical activities. For example, schools will provide frequent water breaks, before, during and after the physical activities, the spokesperson said. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SIAU MING EN