种粮不行，种菜应该可以。

control over the environment：对环境的控制

supplement natural light：补充自然光线

climate-smart and sustainable agriculture：气候智能型和可持续农业

is inaccessible to field farming：无法进行田间耕作

在阿巴拉契亚山脉的山麓，摩尔黑德小镇拥有美国最大的温室AppHarvest。但该设施不仅仅是一个超大版本的后院温室，这项高科技使用机器人、人工智能(AI)和大数据，每年生产多达4500万磅西红柿。

AppHarvest于2020年建成，占地60英亩，该公司表示，其最先进的温室每英亩产量是露天农田的30倍，而用水量却减少了90%。

LED灯被用来补充自然光，作物在无土环境下生长，生长在让植物根系吸收水分和营养的培养液中。利用300个传感器和人工智能，该设施收集了70多万种植物的数据，种植者可以远程监控微气候，以确保作物获得理想数量的营养和水分。AppHarvest的机器人会评估哪些番茄已经成熟，然后用机器人手臂采摘和修剪。

目前，全球粮食生产造成了三分之一的温室气体、80%的森林砍伐、70%的陆地生物多样性丧失，以及70%的淡水使用。许多公司都在寻找解决方案。

除了高科技温室，垂直农场也越来越受欢迎。垂直农场是在室内垂直堆叠的床上种植食物，没有土壤或自然光。

NextOn在韩国一座山下废弃的隧道里经营着一个垂直农场。美国公司AeroFarms计划在阿布扎比建造一个9万平方英尺的室内垂直农场，总部位于柏林的Infarm将模块化垂直农场直接引入了杂货店，在东京的商店里种植新鲜农产品。

但也存在挑战，高科技温室可以成功地生产藤曼作物和绿叶蔬菜，但要种植谷物和主要作物是不切实际的。

目前，AppHarvest的番茄在美国各地的连锁杂货店和餐馆销售，售价与标准番茄大致相同。在未来几年，莫尔豪斯工厂计划种植其他类型的藤曼作物，如黄瓜或辣椒。肯塔基州正在兴建一处新设施，用于种植绿叶蔬菜和草本植物，还有一处用于种植浆果。

农业是世界上最大的污染源之一，我们正在建立一个新的体系来重建粮食供应、降低碳排放和创造稳定供应。

Is the biggest greenhouse in the US the future of farming?

Words by Liz Kang, video by Dan Tham, CNN

Updated 0719 GMT (1519 HKT) October 6, 2021
AppHarvest says that by using a combination of sunlight and LEDs it can produce up to 45 million pounds of tomatoes per year.
(CNN)In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the small town of Morehead is home to the biggest greenhouse in the US. But the facility is more than just an oversized version^[1] of a backyard greenhouse; this high-tech operation uses robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and data to grow up to 45 million pounds of tomatoes per year.

The global population is headed toward 10 billion people^[2] by 2050, and the UN predicts that we will need to produce 70% more food to feed them^[3]. Jonathan Webb, founder and CEO of AppHarvest, believes AI-powered greenhouses are a solution.
“We have to figure out how to grow a lot more food with a lot less resources^[4], all the while in the middle of climate disruption^[5],” says Webb. “We can do that by using technology.”
Controlling the environment
Built in 2020 and set across 60 acres, AppHarvest says that its state-of-the-art greenhouse^[6] yields 30 times more per acre than open fields, while using 90% less water.
“The facility allows you to control the light, the heat, and the nutrition of the crops,” says Josh Lessing, AppHarvest’s chief technology officer. “When you have that much control over the environment^[7], you can do a lot of interesting things,” he says.
LED lights are used to supplement natural light^[8] and crops are grown without soil, in an alternative growing medium^[9] that allows water and nutrients to be absorbed by the plant root.
Using 300 sensors and AI, the facility collects data from over 700,000 plants, and growers can remotely monitor the microclimate to ensure that crops receive the ideal amount of nutrients and water. AppHarvest’s robots assess which tomatoes are ripe enough to be harvested, and then pick and prune them using their robotic arms^[10].
“Building technology to forecast, steer the crop^[11], and create absolute stability in the food supply allows us to grow locally and control our food destiny. That’s the real opportunity with robotics and AI,” says Lessing.
The impact of agriculture
Global food production currently accounts for a third of greenhouse gases, 80% of deforestation, 70% of terrestrial biodiversity loss^[12], and 70% of all freshwater use, according to the WWF, but a range of companies are looking for solutions.
As well as high-tech greenhouses, vertical farms^[13], where food is grown indoors in vertically stacked beds^[14] without soil or natural light, are growing in popularity^[15]. NextOn operates a vertical farm in an abandoned tunnel beneath a mountain in South Korea. US company AeroFarms plans to build a 90,000-square-foot indoor vertical farm in Abu Dhabi, and Berlin-based Infarm has brought modular vertical farms^[16] directly to grocery stores, growing fresh produce in Tokyo stores^[17].
Professor Hon-ming Lam teaches climate-smart and sustainable agriculture^[18] and plant and agricultural biotechnology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He believes greenhouse farming can help ensure food security, and says that building greenhouses on land that is inaccessible to field farming^[19], or near to a city where the produce will be consumed, can cut costs and carbon emissions.
But there are challenges; Lam says that high-tech greenhouses can successfully produce vine^[20] crops and leafy greens^[21], but growing cereals and staple crops^[22] is impractical.
He adds that big greenhouses have historically been expensive to operate and required a lot of electricity, although introducing LED technology and improving insulation design^[23] has brought energy consumption down.
AppHarvest hopes to improve efficiency and minimize its carbon emissions and by using renewable energy sources in the future.
Currently, AppHarvest’s tomatoes can be found at grocery chains and restaurants around the US, sold at around the same price as a standard tomato^[24]. In coming years, the Morehouse facility plans to grow other types of vine crop such as cucumber or peppers^[25]. A new facility is being built in Kentucky to grow leafy greens^[26] and herbs^[27], and another for berries.
“Agriculture is one of the world’s biggest polluters,” Lessing says. “We’re creating a new framework for how to restructure the food supply, lower carbon emissions and create stability.”

注友新闻

注释

[1] an oversized version

注释:一个超大号的版本

[2] headed toward 10 billion people

注释:朝着100亿人口前进

[3] produce 70% more food to feed them

注释:多生产70%的食物来养活他们

[4] a lot less resources

注释:更少的资源

[5] in the middle of climate disruption

注释:在气候变化的影响下

[6] state-of-the-art greenhouse

注释:最先进的温室

[7] control over the environment

注释:对环境的控制

[8] supplement natural light

注释:补充自然光线

[9] an alternative growing medium

注释:另一种生长培养基

[10] pick and prune them using their robotic arms

注释:用它们的机械手臂采摘和修剪它们

[11] steer the crop

注释:引导农作物

[12] terrestrial biodiversity loss

注释:陆地生物多样性的丧失

[13] vertical farms

注释:垂直农场 立体农场

备注:垂直农业

[14] vertically stacked beds

注释:垂直堆叠的床

[15] growing in popularity

注释:越来越受欢迎

[16] modular vertical farms

注释:模块化的垂直农场

[17] growing fresh produce in Tokyo stores

注释:在东京的商店里种植新鲜农产品

[18] climate-smart and sustainable agriculture

注释:气候智能型和可持续农业

[19] is inaccessible to field farming

注释:无法进行田间耕作

[20] vine

注释:藤本植物

备注:S [vaɪn]
UK [vaɪn]
n.藤；藤蔓；藤本植物；葡萄藤

[21] vine crops and leafy greens

注释:藤曼作物和绿叶蔬菜

[22] staple crops

注释:主要农作物

[23] improving insulation design

注释:提高绝缘设计

[24] at around the same price as a standard tomato

注释:价格和标准西红柿差不多

[25] cucumber or peppers

注释:黄瓜和辣椒

[26] leafy greens

注释:绿叶蔬菜

[27] herbs

注释:草本植物

备注:美 [hɜ:bs]
英 [hɜ:bs]
n. [植] 药草；[植] 草本植物（herb的复数）