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“If more vegetables are produced within the urban environment, it would mean that less vegetables need to be imported from another location. This would mean less transport requirement to bring the vegetables to the city and this in turn, would mean less carbon footprints added to the environment. In today’s landscape where the world faces consequences of global warming, urban farming would certainly be environmentally advantageous.”
Lee Sing Kong
Ø Horticulturist
Ø Interests are in agro technology, urban forestry and plant tissue culture
Ø Involved in greening Singapore since 1975
Ø Joined the National Institution of Singapore and embarked on the research on hydroponics in 1991
Ø Developed the aeroponics technology and adapted it for the production of temperate vegetables in the tropics.
Ø Received many awards for this technology
Ø Provides consultancy in aeroponics and urban forestry
Research Interest:
- Agrotechnology
- Urban forestry
- Involved in greening in Singapore since 1975
Email: singkong.lee@nie.edu.sg
For more information on Professor Lee you can visit these websites:
http://www.a-star.edu.sg/AwardsScholarships/PresidentsScienceandTechnologyAwards/PastNationalScienceTechnologyAwardsWinners/NSTAWinners2000/WinnerCitationAProfLeeSingKong/tabid/623/Default.aspx
We soley research on Prof Lee because he firmly believes that we should grow more hydroponic plants and he is a Singaporean like everyone of us thus he knows about how singapore's weather/climate is like.
Lee Sing Kong did not invent or develop the aeroponic technology, he was merely using and adapting the aeroponic technology developed and patented by others long before him. The first aeroponic system was developed at the University of Pia in Italy by Dr Franco Massantini in the 1980s. Please refer to the links and book below:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hydroponics.com.au/issue-05-aeroponics/
http://aeroponics.com/aero11d.htm
A Guide to Hydroponics by Dr. Leow Atomic Chuan Tse (Published by Singapore Science Center)
I hope this will clarify the long held misconception. Lee Sing Kong is NOT the inventor of the aeroponic technology and it is erroneous to credit him as the inventor of the aeroponic technology.
Neither was Lee Sing Kong the first person to use chilled nutrient solution with aeroponic technology to produce temperate plants in the hot tropics (see link below):
ReplyDeleteRefer to Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses. Issue 91: Chilling The Root Zone. November/December – 2006
http://www.hydroponics.com.au/issue-91-chilling-the-root-zone/
Another misconception needs to be corrected is that it is impossible to grow temperate lettuces such as the iceberg and butterhead lettuces with properly formed heads in the hot tropics such as Singapore without either chilling the nutrient solution supplying to the root zone of the plants or chilling of the growth environment with air conditioning facilities. This is because temperate lettuces will bolt (go to seed) and form a loose head and turn bitter in hot ambient environment, making them unsellable. Any such claim by individuals who claim this is possible without the need for external cooling or chilling of the root zone is at best dubious.
ReplyDeleteRefer to Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses. Issue 91: Chilling The Root Zone. November/December – 2006
http://www.hydroponics.com.au/issue-91-chilling-the-root-zone/