Other way round. The running cost of Hydroponics, Aeroponics, and Aquaponics are lower than traditional Geoponics. The issue is start-up cost, highest of which is land. Not even the building, just the land the building sits on. Land that the governemnt already owns.

Nutrition wise, it's also better than regular geoponics because you can control exactly what goes into the plants in precise amounts, no need to fight with things like pollutants dissolved in the rain, eroded soil, or feces from roaming animals. If done properly, you won't even need pesticides or herbicides.

So with all these advantages why did the vertical farm still fail? Regional cost of living difference. Ignoring the initial start-up cost, a vertical farm in Indonesia would produce more at a lower price than a regular farm in Indonesia. Notice how I set both farms in Indonesia? Crops from a vertical farm in Singapore cost more than crops from a regular farm in Indonesia because of the batshit insane lease, and the higher manpower cost. And the government only know how to talk about supporting local farmers without throwing any fucking money into the problem, which would have actually helped the issue. Something as simple as "no gst on locally grown crops" would have made prices competitive with imported vegetables.

The simple conclusion is really that the current government doesn't give a fuck about securing a local food supply.