Top 10 Grants for farming companies in Singapore

To strengthen Singapore’s food supply chain and increase food security by developing urban farming, the Singapore Government has various grants and funds to encourage farming companies to use technology and encourage local development of agriculture.

This is to work towards the ‘30 by 30’ goal — to build up our agri-food industry’s capability and capacity to produce 30% of our nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030. This target also features in the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and will help build a more resilient food future. 

Here, we briefly list out some attractive grants/funds which aligned with the theme:

1. Agri-Food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund - Technology Upscaling (TU)

This grant from Singapore Food Agency (SFA) supports the purchase of large commercial-scale, automated, and advanced farming technology solutions that will be integrated with agri-input production, post-harvest, and waste treatment technologies.

SFA licensed Singapore-based farms that are setting up new farm sites or retrofitting indoor spaces within ready industrial spaces for farming can also tap on the fund. Applicants must have a secured farm site for implementation of the proposed farming system. Applicant’s farm should be free of unauthorized or illegal activities for the past 1 year and completed any on-going approved projects co-funded by SFA to be eligible for ACT TU grant.

The maximum funding support for Technology Upscaling project is capped at $4.5mil for farming technology/system; and $1.5mil for farm-related infrastructure cost. The total funding amount that can be awarded to an applicant during the 5-year availability of ACT Fund is $6mil. 

The level of funding will also be subject to the merit of the project scored by an internal SFA’s panel against the set of evaluation criteria such as farming capacity, impact on productivity, economic viability and technical capability etc.

The application period is from 30 April to 31 Dec 2025. Project implementation period is 18 months from the date of Letter of Offer (LOF).
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2. Agri-Food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund - Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) for Capability Upgrading (CU) Component

This grant co-funds the purchase of farm equipment and systems from SFA's pre-qualified list and expenses related to the Clean & Green (C&G) Standard adoption and GAP certification.

Eligibility for this grant is similar to ACT TU grant above, while evaluation criteria is based on the impact on farming capacity and productivity, and improvement in sustainability.

The total funding amount that can be awarded for the 5-year is $100,000 (inclusive of one-off $15,000 for qualifying C&G consultancy fees ($10,000) and certification-related fees ($5,000)).
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The Capability Upgrading component will be available as part of the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) from 30 Apr 2021 to 31 Dec 2025. Project implementation period is 6 months from the date of Letter of Offer.

3. NEA 3R

This is a co-funding scheme to encourage organizations to reduce waste disposed of at National Environment Agency (NEA)'s incineration plants and disposal facilities through the implementation of waste minimization and recycling projects.

This grant is available to any organization in Singapore, at any time of the year, based on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to the availability of funds.

Eligible projects must result in an increase in the quantity of solid waste (excludes toxic and chemical wastes) recycled or a reduction in the quantity of solid waste generated. The minimum tonnage eligibility is 100 tones reduced, reused or recycled over the whole project duration. Projects also must not have commenced at the time of application.

The 3R Fund will co-fund up to 80 per cent of qualifying costs, subject to a cap of $1 million per project or per applicant. For multiple onsite waste treatment systems within the same premises or in different premises, the qualifying costs of the system will be tiered accordingly as below:
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• 2nd system – 70% of Project Qualifying Costs
• 3rd system – 60% of Project Qualifying Costs
• 4th system or more – 50% of Project Qualifying Costs

The maximum project duration is 3.5 years. In addition, the minimum duration of the operational phase is one year.

4. SG Eco Fund

This is a $50 million grant from the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment Singapore which was set up in 2020 to support projects that advance environmental sustainability and involve the community.

Any Singaporean individual, group or organization can apply for this grant if your projects improve the environment or advance environmental sustainability in Singapore; engage and/or involve the community; and not have obtained funding from other government sources.

The SG Eco Fund has two categories: Sprout (Up to $10,000 can be submitted throughout the year) and Main (more than $10,000 can be submitted between 1 May and 31 August each year). 

The SG Eco Fund can support up to 80% of supportable cost items, capped at $1 million. Grants will be given out on a reimbursement basis, upon completion of project milestones, and should be submitted within three months of the project completion date.

5. Energy Efficiency Fund - Energy Efficient Technology

This is another fund from the National Environment Agency which supports companies to adopt energy efficient equipment or technologies.

The grant quantum will be calculated based on the total amount of carbon abatement achieved by the project, subject to a cap of 70% of the qualifying costs.

Eligible applicants must be a Singapore-registered owner or operator of a manufacturing facility sited in Singapore with SSIC code 10XXX to 32XXX, and has annual group sales turnover of less than $500 million. 

Eligible projects must involve installation and use of energy efficient equipment or technologies with proven track record of energy savings in an industrial facility. The project must result in measurable and verifiable energy savings; and shall be completed within 36 months from the approval of grant.

Disbursement is on a reimbursement basis. Companies can claim the full grant amount after project completion and energy savings are measured and verified.

6. Energy Efficiency Fund - Energy Management Information System (EMIS)

Another NEA grant supports companies to install EMIS to monitor and manage energy consumption in a structured manner to achieve efficiency improvements.

Energy Management Information System grant co-funds up to 50% of the qualifying costs capped at:

• $250,000 per energy-intensive facility (i.e. consuming more than 54TJ of energy annually)
• $125,000 per facility for other facilities

The applicant must be a Singapore-registered owner or operator of an industrial facility sited in Singapore with SSIC code 10XXX to 32XXX or 35XXX to 38XXX. Project EMIS must only involve energy management-related functions and should be commissioned within 2 years from grant approval. The EMIS should cover all major energy consuming systems or energy streams in the facility.

Disbursement is on a reimbursement basis. Companies can claim the disbursement requests as follows:

• Disbursement of the first 80% of the grant upon commissioning of EMIS and submission of commissioning report
• Disbursement of the final 20% of the grant upon submission of post-implementation report

 7. Research and Innovation Scheme for Companies (RIS(C))

This scheme encourages companies in Singapore to conduct or expand their Research & Development (R&D) activities in science and technology.

The co-funding support is up to 30% qualifying project costs such as manpower, training, consultancy, equipment, software, intellectual property, and materials costs.

Local manpower may be accorded support of up to 50%.

The timing for project execution is 3 years

8. Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) - Innovation & Productivity: Automation
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Enterprise Singapore offers this grant to support eligible company’s usage of automation and technology which can result in tangible benefits, significant growth and resource efficiency, such as automation of production lines using robotics, artificial Intelligence, or implementing customized ERP and production management software, etc.

Eligible businesses can also apply for the 100% Investment Allowance (IA) on the qualifying equipment costs net of grant, capped at S$10 million per project. The 100% IA grant scheme is available until 31 March 2023.

Companies keen to apply for the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) must be registered and operating in Singapore, have a minimum of 30% local shareholding, traced to ultimate individual shareholders level, and be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project
Support level: SMEs up to 70%; non-SMEs up to 50% of qualified costs.
Most projects undertaken by companies should be completed within 12 to 18 months upon successful grant application.

9. Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) - Core Capabilities: Strategic Brand and Marketing Development

This is another noteworthy grant from Enterprise Singapore, it co-funds costs of professional marketing and branding consultants to help your company better capture target audiences and markets by differentiating your brand, and your products and services.

The grant can cover diagnosis and assessment of company financial value and competition, then research, recommend, and develop strategy plans to optimize marketing resources and improve customer communications.

Companies need to be registered and operating in Singapore to apply for this grant. Additionally, the company must have a minimum of 30% local shareholding, and be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project.

Support level is similar to automation, SMEs up to 70%; non-SMEs up to 50% of qualified costs.

10. Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant

This is a popular grant to help Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) expand overseas.

Support is limited to one activity in a single overseas market with up to 70% of eligible costs, capped at S$100,000 per company per new market: 

• Overseas market promotion (capped at S$20,000)
• Overseas business development (capped at S$50,000)
• Overseas market set-up (capped at S$30,000)

To be eligible, a business entity must be registered/incorporated in Singapore, and have at least 30% local shareholding. Company's Group Annual Sales Turnover should be not more than S$100 million, OR Company's Group Employment Size should be not more than 200 employees. The last requirement is new market entry criteria, i.e. target overseas country whereby the applicant has not exceeded S$100,000 in overseas sales in each of the last three preceding years. 

Companies must submit their applications no earlier than six months after the project start date. All claims will be disbursed on a reimbursement basis. The processing time for MRA is about 8 to 12 weeks from the submission of all required information. 

The Singapore Government offers a great variety of grants to support local farming business. If your business is eligible for any of the grants above, please contact us to get a free consultation to identify suitable grant support and. Thereafter, should you decide to engage us, we can assist you in your end-to-end grant application and claims journey.

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