Course Details
Course Details
What You'll Learn
LU1 Urban Farming and Hydroponics Foundations
Topic 1: Introduction to Hydroponics and Systems
Definition and history of hydroponics
Advantages and disadvantages of hydroponics
Basic components of a hydroponic system
Different types of hydroponic systems (e.g., NFT, DWC, Ebb and Flow)
Selecting the right system for specific crops
Setting up and maintaining hydroponic systems
Topic 2: Growing Media, Plant Nutrition, and Practical Application
Types of growing media used in hydroponics
Nutrient solutions and their preparation
Monitoring and adjusting pH and EC levels
Assembling a basic hydroponic system
Planting and caring for crops in a hydroponic system
Maintenance and troubleshooting of hydroponic setups
LU2 Urban Farming and Hydroponics Techniques and Practices
Topic 3: Basic Techniques of Hydroponics Farming
Principles of indoor farming
Lighting, temperature, and humidity control
Integration of hydroponics into indoor farming setups
Guided hydroponics farm tour
Real-world application of hydroponic techniques
Observation of commercial hydroponic operations
Understanding farm management and maintenance practices
Topic 4: Urban Farming Practices in Singapore
Basics of aquaponics and its benefits
Setting up an aquaponics system
Regulatory considerations and best practices for urban farming in Singapore
Performing farming activities in compliance with prevailing regulations
Good Agriculture Practices (GAPs) and Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) practices
Equipment cleaning and maintenance techniques
Assessment
- Written Exam
- Practical Exam
Course Info
Minimum Entry Requirement
Knowledge and Skills
- Able to operate using computer functions
- Minimum 3 GCE ‘O’ Levels Passes including English or WPL Level 5 (Average of Reading, Listening, Speaking & Writing Scores)
Attitude
- Positive Learning Attitude
- Enthusiastic Learner
Experience
- Minimum of 1 year of working experience.
Funding Eligibility Criteria
Self-sponsored learners (individuals)
- Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents aged 21 and above.
- Up to 50% course fee funding. Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above receive up to 70% under the Mid-career Enhanced Subsidy (MCES).
- Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above can pay the remaining fee with SkillsFuture Credit.
Company-sponsored learners
- Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents who are direct employees of the sponsoring company.
- Up to 50% course fee funding, or up to 70% for employees of SMEs (Enhanced Training Support for SMEs) and for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above. An SME has no more than 200 employees or an annual turnover of no more than $100 million.
- Employers can also claim Absentee Payroll funding for employees who attend during working hours.
- Eligible companies can offset their out-of-pocket fees with SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC).
Conditions for all funded learners
- Attendance is taken digitally with Singpass for every session, including the assessment.
- You must complete the course and pass all assessments (assessed as Competent).
- If these conditions are not met, the funding is clawed back and the learner or employer pays the full course fee.
- 9% GST is charged on the full course fee before funding.
- Promo and discount codes cannot be used on funded courses.
- Any balance after funding can be paid in cash, with SkillsFuture Credit, with PSEA (Singapore Citizens with a PSEA), or partly reimbursed by UTAP for NTUC members.
How to Apply SkillsFuture Credit Claim for Individuals
Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above can use their SkillsFuture Credit (base tier) to pay the course fee after funding. The $4,000 mid-career top-up cannot be used for this course.
- Register for this course as self-sponsored and tell us you will use SkillsFuture Credit. Do not pay the amount you plan to claim.
- We email you an invoice showing the course fee after funding.
- From 60 days before the course starts, and no later than the course start date, log in to MySkillsFuture with Singpass and click Claim credits.
- Click Submit a Claim and search for this course by its course code, TGS-2025053916.
- Select your class start date, enter the course fee payable after funding and the amount of credit to claim, then upload the invoice (PDF, JPG or PNG, under 4MB).
- Review, accept the terms and click Agree and Submit. The credit is paid directly to us; processing can take up to 14 working days.
Changing or withdrawing: cancel the claim on MySkillsFuture at least one day before the course starts. If your class date changes, cancel the claim and submit a new one with the new date.
How to Apply SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC)
SFEC helps companies pay for employee training. The current SFEC ends on 30 November 2026, and a redesigned SFEC starts on 1 December 2026.
Current SFEC: classes ending on or before 30 November 2026
- Eligible companies received a one-off $10,000 credit, notified by letter to their Corppass administrator. Eligibility generally required at least 3 Singapore Citizen or PR employees and Skills Development Levy contributions.
- SFEC covers up to 90% of the company's out-of-pocket course fee after other subsidies.
- Check your company's SFEC eligibility and balance on EnterpriseSG.
- Register your Singapore Citizen or PR employee for a class that ends by 30 November 2026, as company-sponsored, and pay the course fee after funding.
- Your employee attends and completes the course. We submit the attendance and assessment results to SWDA.
- No separate claim is needed. SFEC is calculated automatically once the course fee grant is approved and is paid quarterly to your company's IRAS GIRO or PayNow Corporate account.
Any unused balance of the current SFEC expires on 30 November 2026.
Redesigned SFEC from 1 December 2026
Companies with at least 3 resident employees receive a fresh $10,000 in an online SFEC wallet that offsets out-of-pocket fees upfront at enrolment, instead of reimbursing them afterwards. SWDA has not yet published the support rates and claim steps; see OurWorkforce or our SFEC guide.
How to Apply UTAP (NTUC Members)
NTUC members can claim 50% of the unfunded course fee under the Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP), capped at $250 a year (aged below 40) or $500 a year (aged 40 and above). The cap is shared with UTAP claims for AI tool subscriptions.
Eligibility: you must be an NTUC member paying full membership fees, with your membership paid up before and during the course and when you claim. The course must not be fully paid for by your employer or another source.
- Make sure your NTUC membership is paid up before the course starts.
- Register for this course with us and pay the course fee after funding and SkillsFuture Credit.
- Attend at least 75% of the course and sit all assessments.
- Within 6 months after the course ends, go to the NTUC U Portal, open UTAP under E-services, log in with Singpass and choose Course Fee Claim.
- Enter the nett course fee you paid (after all subsidies and SkillsFuture Credit, including GST), and upload your invoice or receipt and your certificate or result slip (PDF, JPG or PNG, up to 5MB each).
- NTUC usually pays the claim within 4 weeks of submission.
Read more in our UTAP guide.
How to Apply PSEA
Singapore Citizens with a Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA), which stays open until around the year you turn 31, can use it to pay the course fee after funding for PSEA-approved courses. You can also use a sibling's PSEA after your own has been used up.
- Check that this course shows the PSEA tag on its MySkillsFuture page.
- Check your PSEA balance on MOE's Student Finance System with Singpass.
- Download and complete the PSEA withdrawal form, then submit it to us.
- We submit the withdrawal request to MOE. You (and your sibling, if you are using their account) authorise it in the Student Finance System. Nothing is withdrawn without this authorisation.
- MOE pays us directly. If you have already paid, we refund the amount covered by PSEA.
More details: MOE PSEA overview.
Appeal Process
If you disagree with an assessment decision, you have the right to appeal.
- When the assessor gives you feedback, say whether you agree with the outcome. If you agree, you and the assessor sign the Assessment Summary Record; if you disagree, do not sign it.
- Discuss the decision with the assessor or the assessment manager first.
- If you are still not satisfied, tell the assessor you intend to appeal. The assessor records this in the feedback section of the Assessment Summary Record and informs the assessment manager.
- Lodge your appeal within 7 days, giving your reasons, using the Candidate Appeal Form. The assessor can help you write and lodge it.
- An Assessment Appeal Panel reviews the information from you and the assessor and makes a decision. A record of the appeal and its outcome is kept.
- You will be told the outcome within 2 weeks of lodging the appeal. The panel's decision is final.
Job Roles
Job Roles
- Urban Farm Manager
- Hydroponics Specialist
- Urban Agriculture Consultant
- Hydroponic System Technician
- Greenhouse Technician
- Plant Nutritionist
- Indoor Farm Supervisor
- Agricultural Operations Manager
- Hydroponic Crop Grower
- Environmental Control Specialist
- Farming Equipment Operator
- Agricultural Compliance Officer
- Urban Farming Educator
- Sustainable Agriculture Advocate
- Agribusiness Entrepreneur
- Farm Maintenance Technician
- Agricultural Research Assistant
- Urban Farm Designer
- Aquaponics Technician
- Agricultural Health and Safety Officer
Trainers
Trainers
A plant biology and urban agriculture specialist, Dr. Smita Singh holds a PhD and has more than 15 years of experience in botany, plant physiology and urban agriculture systems. She has led research and consultancy projects on sustainable crop management, soil health and integrated pest control for tropical climates, and has a strong background in biotechnology and organic farming. Her contributions span academic and applied agricultural initiatives that promote sustainable food production and environmental resilience. She is also a sustainability and environmental management expert with experience in environmental monitoring, pollution control and green certification, which informs her focus on resource-efficient, low-impact growing. Dr. Smita is an ACLP-certified corporate trainer, lecturer and assessor, and an experienced WSQ trainer who brings scientific rigour and a practical, hands-on approach to learning. Her applied experience in tropical crop production is particularly relevant to Singapore, where heat, humidity and limited space shape the choice of crops, systems and growing practices for anyone starting out in urban farming.
In WSQ Basic Urban Farming with Hydroponics, Dr. Smita guides learners from the foundations of hydroponics to real-world urban farming practice. She covers the history, advantages and limitations of hydroponics and compares systems such as NFT, Deep Water Culture and Ebb and Flow, helping participants select the right system for specific crops. Her plant physiology background underpins the sessions on growing media, nutrient solutions and monitoring pH and EC levels, as learners assemble a basic hydroponic system, plant and care for crops, and troubleshoot common problems. She then explains indoor farming principles, including lighting, temperature and humidity control, and connects classroom learning to a guided hydroponics farm tour. The course closes with urban farming practices in Singapore, from aquaponics basics to regulatory considerations, Good Agricultural Practices and workplace safety and health. Throughout the course she explains the plant science behind each practice, from how roots take up nutrients to why pH drift affects growth, so that learners can diagnose problems for themselves instead of following recipes they do not understand. Learners finish ready to set up, maintain and responsibly operate a small hydroponic growing system.
Felicia Kang is a workplace learning facilitator and corporate trainer whose sessions focus on communication, stakeholder management and collaborative problem-solving. She has designed and delivered learner-centred sessions for mixed-seniority groups, and her classrooms emphasise practical tools such as brief frameworks, role-plays and reflection prompts so that participants can transfer skills immediately to the workplace. In WSQ contexts she aligns activities to competency outcomes, mapping each topic to observable behaviours, and learners leave with ready-to-use artefacts such as guides, action trackers and templates. Her facilitation style balances psychological safety with accountability, resulting in high participation and measurable skill uptake.
In WSQ Basic Urban Farming with Hydroponics, Felicia applies this competency-focused facilitation to a hands-on technical programme. Learners cover the history and advantages of hydroponics and the main system types such as NFT, deep water culture and ebb and flow, then growing media, nutrient solutions and the monitoring of pH and EC. The course moves on to indoor farming conditions, a guided hydroponics farm tour, aquaponics, and Good Agriculture Practices and Workplace Safety and Health in Singapore. Her structured approach keeps each activity tied to the course outcomes, so learners leave confident in setting up and maintaining a basic system.
Bernard Low is a training consultant specialising in team effectiveness, service excellence and process improvement for SMEs and enterprise teams. He blends practical management experience with facilitation techniques that surface root causes, prioritise fixes and translate decisions into clear actions, and his programmes are hands-on and scenario-based. For WSQ delivery he structures each module with explicit performance criteria, formative checks and workplace-based assignments, and he equips learners with simple toolkits, such as issue-framing canvases, role maps and after-action review templates, so that improvements continue beyond the classroom. His sessions focus consistently on measurable outcomes such as reduced rework and faster cycle times.
In WSQ Basic Urban Farming with Hydroponics, Bernard brings this structured, practice-based approach to a course built around doing. Learners assemble a basic hydroponic system, prepare nutrient solutions, monitor and adjust pH and EC, and plant, care for and troubleshoot crops, before exploring lighting, temperature and humidity control for indoor farming and observing commercial operations on a guided farm tour. With explicit performance criteria and formative checks at each stage, and coverage of aquaponics, Good Agriculture Practices and WSH requirements in Singapore, learners leave able to run and maintain a small hydroponic setup in compliance with prevailing regulations.
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. (Posted on 12/18/2020)1. Do you find the course meet your expectation? 2. Do you find the trainer knowledgeable in this subject? 3. How do you find the training environment - will recommend Review by Course Participant/Trainee
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. (Posted on 12/18/2020)1. Do you find the course meet your expectation? 2. Do you find the trainer knowledgeable in this subject? 3. How do you find the training environment - will recommend Review by Course Participant/Trainee
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. (Posted on 12/17/2020)1. Do you find the course meet your expectation? 2. Do you find the trainer knowledgeable in this subject? 3. How do you find the training environment
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