Five years ago, almost no one knew what agtech was. Inside the industry, we didn’t even know what to call what we were doing. But fast forward to today, 农业技术——从垂直农业到数据科学再到农场无人机——是投资界的新热点. The Investment Corporation of Dubai alone just dropped $203 million into agtech investments; another $200 million came from the Japanese holding behemoth SoftBank; and dedicated VC funds are zeroing in on the sector’s potential. In 2017, total investment was over $1.50亿美元，创下了该行业的新纪录，并为爆炸式增长奠定了基础.

但与今天的许多科技颠覆——从智能手机到社交媒体——不同的是，这次颠覆关乎的不是消费者的便利或娱乐，而是更为紧迫的事情:bbin游戏官网的集体生存. 现实情况是，bbin游戏官网必须迅速有效地将农业从工业时代带入数字时代.

从这个角度来看，投资者对农业科技的兴趣日益浓厚并不令人意外. Market potential is nearly limitless precisely because our appetites are too. We all need to eat, and our population is rapidly growing.

Future of farming has 9.8 billion mouths to feed

With a predicted global population of 9.到2050年，bbin游戏官网将需要找出如何养活更多的人口，而且要快. 研究表明，这可能意味着bbin游戏官网需要种植比现在多一倍的食物, simply to avoid food security issues and mass social disruption. 全世界每年已经有300多万儿童因为吃不饱而死亡. At the same time, 事实上，气候变化正使通过传统方式养活世界变得更加困难, with our current rate of crop yields, we’ll only have enough food for half of that projected population.

自托马斯·马尔萨斯(Thomas Malthus)时代以来，关于无法养活世界人口的世界末日预言就一直存在, and it’s not my intent to deliver any more here. 但重要的是要注意到，在未来几年里，种植足够的粮食将是一项艰巨的任务, 今天的农业实践——依赖于工业时代的土地使用和生产力的概念——并不能让bbin游戏官网达到那个目标.

This is where digital technology has a critical role to play. I’m not talking about developing new, synthetic chemicals to apply to fields, or building ever larger corporate farms. At its core, 农业科技就是利用先进的监测和数据分析，用更少的资源做更多的事情——找到提高产量的方法，同时不给土地和水等已经负担过重的资源增加负担.

Right now, a cross-section of technologies and disciplines – from sensors, 人工智能、大数据、生物技术和机器人技术——正被进步的初创公司用来促进全球食品供应. For example, Hortau systems is increasing watering efficiency through smart monitoring, which in turn increases plant yield. Phytech正在通过其“植物物联网”优化作物生产——田地里的智能设备可以向智能手机发送简单的彩色编码警报，并提供建议和警告. Meanwhile, the Israeli-based CropX uses hardware and software to measure soil moisture, conductivity and temperature, allowing farmers to save water.

我再怎么强调也不为过:这种破坏是如此独特，正是因为它是完全必要的. 不像苹果一直需要通过计划淘汰来说服消费者购买新产品, the agtech market will grow organically (indeed, exponentially) over time, giving early entrants an edge and access to an ever-increasing customer base.

Technology to make farming viable again

Apart from the pressing need to keep us fed, 农业科技解决了另一个关键的痛点:为种植bbin游戏官网食物的下一代保持农业的可行性.

Farmers have never been shy about embracing new technologies – the wheel, 几个世纪以来，拖拉机和化肥中的化学成分改变了世界. 然而，近几十年来，农业领域出现了巨大的技术差距，并带来了现实后果. In our approaches to land management, resource use, labour, transportation and more, bbin游戏官网牢牢地停留在一种过时的工业模式中——强调大规模农场和不惜一切代价的大量产出, 同时忽视了从环境影响到财务后果和人员伤亡等外部因素.

一个恰当的例子是:传统农业在今天基本上是可行的，因为它得到了大量政府补贴的支持. The US currently pays around $25 billion to farmers annually. But even with a cash infusion, it’s still a tough go for today’s farmers. 世界上最重要的职业是出了名的利润微薄，而且常常是赔本买卖. (Grapes, for example, bring in as little as $6 of profit per acre, and they are considered a higher-profit crop.) It’s little wonder that young people aren’t stepping into the industry anymore. (Britain is even facing a farmer shortage.)

所有这一切都是在说:bbin游戏官网目前的商业农业方法让bbin游戏官网走到了今天这一步, but the way we farm now isn’t sustainable for the planet, for individuals or for societies long-term. 但农业技术已经在减少损失和管理费用方面发挥了作用，同时增加了更多的可预测性, and profit, to the job.

For example, Cainthus, an AI facial recognition software for cows, 允许小农维持更大的畜群，并跟踪单个动物的健康状况, right down to how much they've eaten each day and how much milk they’ve been given. Meanwhile, aWhere is a next-gen Farmers' Almanac, 由于拥有1个全球网络，bbin游戏官网可以精确地监测和预报天气.4 million weather stations. Drones and robots from companies like Farmbot are helping fill the farm labour gap, 通过拖放界面，农民可以为硬件构建动作序列或设置重复的种植方案. Blue River Technology, recently acquired by John Deere, uses cameras and AI to dole out herbicide more precisely as needed.

Feeding the shifting tastes of consumers

Aside from these pull factors, 农业科技繁荣背后有一个关键的推动因素:消费者对更清洁食品的需求. 亚马逊最近对全食超市(Whole Foods)的收购是一个明显的迹象，表明大企业正在回应消费者对天然食品的兴趣. Even Walmart has gotten into the organics game, and is now one of the biggest organic grocers in North America. Indeed, 需求如此之高，以至于bbin游戏官网很难种植足够的作物:目前只有不到1%的国内农田获得了有机认证, and Americans are spending $1 billion a year to import organic foods.

越来越多的购物者(仅在美国就有58%)坚持购买有机或清洁食品. This isn’t just millennials being picky. Whether we’re talking about concerns over pesticides and cancer, allergic reactions, 乳糜泻的增加或对污染的灌溉水导致疾病爆发的担忧, our health increasingly depends on having access to safe, trustworthy food.

Technology will need to fill the gap

To trace food, ripe.io’s technology maps its journey from field to shop shelves, so that retailers, chefs and consumers know their purchases are truly sustainable. My own company, Terramera, is developing natural, “植物智能”害虫控制，无需使用化学农药就能提高产量. On the vertical farming front, Mirai is using LED lighting and automation to stack farming plots indoors, maximizing every square foot for output and minimizing hands-on labour.

农业科技革命与之前的许多科技颠覆有一个区别:bbin游戏官网大多数人实际上不会注意到它正在发生. The digitization of agriculture is necessary simply to maintain the status quo. 如果bbin游戏官网想继续去购物，继续用健康的食物填满bbin游戏官网的篮子, affordable food – we need to fundamentally rethink how we do agriculture. Behind the scenes, bbin游戏官网需要彻底改变bbin游戏官网的粮食体系，充分利用现有的粮食来满足不断增长的人口. Failing that, the average trip to buy food may soon be anything but.

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Originally published on World Economic Forum

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