为什么说精准农业是一项好投资?

    This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

    Precision agriculture is a way of thinking about how to improve production and get more from existing resources. It often involves the use of technology. An example found mostly in wealthier countries is a computer-guided tractor. The computer does most of the driving. It uses signals from satellites in the Global Positioning System. GPS technology helps the tractor cut rows in straight lines and put the right amount of fertilizer in the right place.
    精准农业是谋划如何提高产量,以及从现有资源中获取更多回报的一种途径。它通常涉及到技术的运用。计算机制导的拖拉机就是富裕国家常见的一个例子。计算机负责大部分的驾驶工作,它借助了全球定位系统(以下简称GPS)的卫星信号。GPS技术帮助拖拉机划出直线的垄沟,并将适量化肥投放到合适位置。

    Jimmy Messick is a farmer in northern Virginia, not far from Washington. He says the GPS guidance system makes it easy to come back later and plant the seed in his fields of maize, or corn.
    吉米·梅西克(Jimmy Messic)是距离华盛顿不远的弗吉尼亚州北部的农民。他说,GPS导航系统使得随后在玉米地里播种更为容易。
     
    JIMMY MESSICK: "Because the tractor that's pulling the planter also has the same auto-guidance system in it as the tractor that applied the fertilizer and did this tillage, it will come back and put the seed right on top of these marks."
    梅西克:“由于牵引播种机的拖拉机也安装了相同的自动制导系统,当拖拉机耕作并施肥后,它能再次返回将种子刚好播撒到特定标记处。”

    Because of the GPS guidance, Mr. Messick now pays half what he once did for fertilizer.
    由于GPS导航的帮助,梅西克先生现在在化肥上的支出只有以前的一半。

    Bruce Erickson is an agronomist at Purdue University in Indiana. He says saving even a little bit of seed, pesticide or fertilizer "computes directly to cost savings and less environmental damage."
    布鲁斯·埃里克森(Bruce Erickson)是印第安纳州普渡大学的农学家。他说,哪怕节省一点点种子、化肥和农药,也能直接估算出节约的成本,并减少对环境的伤害。

    Raj Khosla is an agronomist at Colorado State University. He says farmers in the developing world can use precision agriculture even without high-tech tractors.
    拉吉·科斯拉(Raj Khosla)是科罗拉多州立大学的农学家。他说发展中国家的农民也可以应用精准农业,即便没有高科技拖拉机。

    RAJ KHOSLA: "We do not necessarily have to have complex, large machinery to practice what could be done as [simply] as using bottle caps."
    科斯拉:“我们并不一定非要用复杂的大型机械来完成简单到用瓶盖就能搞定的事。”

    The idea is to use a bottle cap to pour a measured amount of fertilizer right next to each plant. It takes more work than simply throwing handfuls of fertilizer across a field.
    其办法是使用瓶盖将定量化肥倾倒到每颗植株旁边。这与在地里一把把抛洒化肥相比工作量更大。

    But Mr. Khosla says researchers taught this bottle cap method to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. They discovered that it was worth the extra effort if they could only afford a small amount of fertilizer.
    但科斯拉先生表示,研究人员曾把这一方法教给了撒哈拉以南非洲地区的农民。他们发现,如果农民只能承担少量化肥的代价,额外付出劳动是值得的。

    RAJ KHOSLA: "There was a huge difference: more than double, in terms of productivity."
    科斯拉:“这样做在生产效率上的差异大到超过两倍以上。”

    Of course, new technology is not always so cheap. But Mr. Khosla says farmers could form a cooperative or combine their resources to pay for new equipment. He and other researchers worked with a farmer in India to precision-level his irrigated wheat fields. That kept the fields from developing wet and dry areas that reduced productivity. The farmer also added better fertilizers and insect control.
    当然新技术并不总是那么便宜。但科斯拉先生说,农民们可以组成一个合作社,或结合各自的资源以购买新设备。他和其他研究人员曾在印度和一位农民合作提高其灌溉麦田的精准性。这可以防止这块地出现过干或过湿的区域从而导致生产效率降低。这位农民还添加了更好的化肥,并做了更好的虫害控制。

    As a result, he was able to grow almost three times as much wheat on the same amount of land. Mr. Khosla says with the extra money the farmer made, and a small loan, he bought his own precision leveler. And now, for a fee, he offers that as a service to his neighbors and other farmers.
    结果,他在同等面积的地里种出了近三倍的大麦。科斯拉先生说,这位农民用赚来的钱,再加上小额贷款,购买了自己的农用精准矫直机,开始向邻居和其他农民提供这种收费服务。

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