Primary Production Department, Ministry of National
Development, 5 Maxwell Road, Singapore
In 1970, with the introduction of effluent water quality standards, the Government of Singapore embarked on a comprehensive programme to reduce pollution caused by industrial sources. Agricultural activities that produce wastes which pollute the environment, especially pig farming, were identified. The measures taken by the Singapore Government to alleviate the problem of water pollution from pig farms were:
Starting in 1975, pig farmers were resettled from the water catchment and urban areas to Ponggol district in the central north tip of Singapore. The Government of Singapore made ex-gratia payments to farmers who were affected by the clearance programme for the improvements made on their land. Farmers were also given options to continue pig farming on alternative land at Ponggol or to cease pig farming completely. About 1 000 ha of land in Ponggol were developed in phases. Ponggol Phase I pig farming estate comprising an area of 208 ha was established in 1974-1975. This was followed by the development in 1975-1976 of Phase II pig farming estate consisting of an area of 253 ha. Farmers were given temporary occupation licenses (TOLs) with nominal rental charges for the land allocated to them.
There were 198 TOL farms established on 113 ha of land in Ponggol Phase I & Phase II Pig Farming Area (PFA). These farms vary in capacity from a minimum of 200 heads to a standing pig population (SPP) capacity of around 4 000 pigs per farm. The facilities built on the farms included pens for boars, sows, weaning and fattening pigs, feed store, rainwater collection pond and dwelling house.
There were inherent shortcomings in encouraging the development of small farms. Most of the farmers installed cheap feed-milling machinery on their farms and experienced difficulty in producing quality pig feeds. There was lack of economy of scale. The farmers brought with them traditional practices that included old building materials and wide farms, and they did not improve their housekeeping and husbandry practices.
To encourage the development of large-scale intensive commercial pig farming, some sites at Ponggol Phase I were made available for the establishment of commercial pig farms. Commercial farmers were given long-term leases (30 years) and were charged commercial rates for land rental. Eight plots of land with a total area of 28 ha and a combined capacity to house 93 000 pigs were allocated for commercial pig farming in Ponggol Phase I PFA.
To further expand land for commercial pig farming, Ponggol Phase III PFA was established. Based on the experience in the development of Ponggol Phase I and Phase II PFA, the development of Phase III PFA (190 ha) was carried out with engineering research. A comprehensive plan was developed for the full development of this area. The overall concept of Phase III PFA was to create an industrial park land for pig farming that was surrounded by a thick belt of trees to buffer the area from the surrounding residential areas. Trees were planted on both sides of farm-ways and along the public highways. Landscaping reduced the severity and impact of the farm structures. To control movement in and out of the Phase III PFA, only two entry points to the estates were constructed. The layout of the lots provided for separate drainage of surface run-off in roadside drain and for farm waste drainage from the back of the farm lots to a canal. The farm-ways were designed with adequate width and loading capacity to facilitate feed delivery by heavy vehicles.
Land in Ponggol Phase III PFA was allocated in 1981/82 to farms with a minimum capacity to house 10 000 pigs on each lot and the larger ones with a capacity to house between 50 000 and 80 000 pigs on their land. Altogether 12 lots (126 ha) were allocated for the establishment of large-scale commercial pig farms. These farms have a total housing capacity to keep 300 000 pigs. Each farm was given a 15-year lease for the land. These large-scale commercial farms adopted the latest practices in farm design and management. Mechanisation and automation, especially in feed delivery and removal of waste were implemented
The Government of Singapore sought the assistance of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1975 to carry out R & D projects to develop waste management technologies that could minimize environmental disruptions while allowing intensive animal production to remain viable in Singapore. The R & D projects were designed to meet the specific needs of Singapore i.e. pollution control, mal-odour management, resource recovery, and new housing designs to accommodate waste delivery and management systems. Two full-scale facilities for the treatment and recycling of waste water were built. Through the R & D efforts, a full spectrum of technologies and potential ideas of resource recovery and waste re-use and recycle were studied objectively and pragmatic standards of performance for achieving practical effluent and water quality standards were developed.
In 1981, the Government of Singapore announced the implementation of a policy to control pig waste pollution by imposing effluent standards on pig farms. Initially, all farms must construct and operate by December 1984, treatment facilities to produce effluent with BOD5 less than 250 mg/L. Eventually, the effluent standards would be BOD5 of less than 50 mg/L, Total Suspended Solids (TSS) of less than 50 mg/L as well as standards for 34 other parameters.
In order to implement pollution control regulations, the Government of Singapore imposed an environment levy on pigs to create a fund to help farmers construct high-quality waste-treatment facilities. The money for this environmental pig fund was derived from a levy of USD 5 per pig slaughtered at the two abattoirs. The levy was imposed on all of the more than 1 million pigs slaughtered every year, including those imported from Malaysia and Thailand. It was put into effect at the beginning of 1980 and accumulated at the rate of more than USD 5 million/year. The fund was projected to reach over USD 30 million by the end of 1985, when payments were to be made after the completion of approved on-farm treatment plants.
Large commercial farms with adequate space reserved for on-farm storage and treatment of waste were able to build a treatment plant on their farms. Small TOL farms were required to amalgamate into larger units to form economically viable units with the capacity of constructing and operating centralised treatment plants.
A capital grant of USD 50 /pig for the design and construction of waste-treatment facilities was implemented under a Capital Grant Scheme (CGS). To be eligible for the grant, the treatment facilities would have to meet discharge standards.
To assist engineering firms in the design of their waste treatment facilities, the effluent standards, conditions, and requirements were released in May 1982, as Guidelines for the Planning and Construction of Pig Farm Waste Treatment Systems. Engineering firms were given details in the Guidelines on waste control requirements, implementation schedules, future standards, financial assistance, responsibilities of farmers, design considerations, and procedures for submission of plans.
In 1984, the Government of Singapore reviewed its policy on pig farming and decided to phase out pig farming by 1987 instead of 1995. The decision to phase out pig farming early was based on the fact that the limited land and water resources that Singapore have, should be used for housing and industry. Another important factor was that in a small city-state like Singapore, pig farms built too close to the urban areas with its associated mal-odour were unacceptable to city dwellers.
With acceleration in the phasing out of pig farming, an intensive effort was made to gather as much experience as possible in the two Government demonstration plants so that their performance could be recorded for use elsewhere. A regional `hands-on' research training programme was funded by IDRC and attended by 44 engineers and scientists from countries within ASEAN, as well as Korea and Mexico. They spent 2 months in Singapore carrying out mini-projects using the two demonstration plants.
Through technical exchange programmes in the spirit of Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries (TCDC), an effort was made to transfer the Singapore experience of PFA to Malaysia, which faces similar problems. Over 10 engineers, veterinarians and scientists from Malaysia spent time in Singapore surveying major aspects of intensive pig farming, studying policy-implementation documents and operating treatment plants.
