VOA慢速英语:Why 'Precision Agriculture' Is a Good Investment

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.
精准农业是一种想办法增产、从现有资源中获取更多的方法。通常要利用科技，富有国家最常见的例子就是使用电脑操作的拖拉机。电脑负责大部分的驾驶工作，借助全球定位系统(GPS)的卫生信号，GPS科技帮助拖拉机沿直线划出垄沟，在正确的位置放入适量的肥料。

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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.
Jimmy Messick是距华盛顿不远处北维吉尼亚州的一位农民，他说GPS使得种玉米变得更容易。

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."
JIMMY MESSICK: “牵引播种机的拖拉机有同步自动导航系统，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.
由于有了GPS系统，Messick现在只需耗费原来肥料的一半。

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."
Bruce Erickson是印第安纳州普渡大学的农学家，他说即使只是节省了一点种子、杀虫剂或化肥，“也能直接计算出节省的成本，减少对环境的危害。”

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.
Raj Khosla是科罗拉多州立大学的农学家，他说，发展中国家的农民甚至无需高科技拖拉机就可以进行精准农业生产。

RAJ KHOSLA: "We do not necessarily have to have complex, large machinery to practice what could be done as [simply] as using bottle caps."
Raj Khosla：“我们不一定非要有复杂、大型的机器，其实瓶盖就可以了。”

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.
这个办法是用瓶盖把定量化肥播撒在每棵植株旁，这比只是将化肥洒在整块田间要耗费更多劳动。

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Raj Khosla说，研究者把这一方法教给了撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲的农民，他们发现这种额外的付出是值得的，因为这样就只需用少量化肥即可。

RAJ KHOSLA: "There was a huge difference: more than double, in terms of productivity."
RAJ KHOSLA: “这个差异很大，生产率提高了两倍。”

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，新科技并不都是这么廉价。但Khosla说，农民可以组建合作社，或将资源合在一起来购买新设备。他和其他研究者同一位印度农民合作提高灌溉麦田的精准度。这样可放置农田过湿或过干而降低生产率。农业还用了较好的肥料，并做了虫害控制。

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，他在同样面积的田地里收获了近三倍的麦子。Khosla说，这位农民用额外挣来的钱，加上一点贷款，就买了一台自己的精准整平机。现在，他向邻居和其他农民收费提供整平机服务。