第1段

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the Earth’s population will live in urban centres. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about three billion people by then. An estimated 10 hectares of new land (about 20% larger than Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming methods continue as they are practised today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use. Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to ensure enough food for the world’s population to live on?

到2050年，地球上近80%的人口将居住在城市中心。根据目前的人口统计趋势，到那时人口将增加约30亿人。如果传统农业方法继续如今的实践，需要大约10公顷的新土地（比巴西大约多20%）来种植足够的食物以供养活他们。目前，全球超过80%的适合种植作物的土地已经在使用中。从历史上看，其中约15%的土地由于管理不善而被浪费。为了确保世界人口有足够的食物生活，我们应该采取什么措施？

第2段

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another three billion people. Many believe an entirely new approach to indoor farming is required, employing cutting-edge technologies. One such proposal is for the ‘Vertical Farm’. The concept is of multi-storey buildings in which food crops are grown in environmentally controlled conditions. Situated in the heart of urban centres, they would drastically reduce the amount of transportation required to bring food to consumers. Vertical farms would need to be efficient, cheap to construct and safe to operate. If successfully implemented, proponents claim, vertical farms offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (through year-round production of all crops), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

室内农业的概念并不新鲜，因为温室种植番茄和其他农产品已经流行了一段时间。新鲜的是迫切需要扩大这项技术以适应另外30亿人口的需求。许多人认为需要全新的室内农业方法，采用尖端技术。其中之一是“垂直农场”的提议。这个概念是在多层建筑中以环境控制条件种植农作物。位于城市中心，它们将大大减少运输食物给消费者所需的数量。垂直农场需要高效、便宜的建设和安全的运营。支持者声称，如果成功实施，垂直农场将带来城市更新、可持续生产安全和多样化的食物供应（通过全年生产所有作物）以及最终修复因水平农业而牺牲的生态系统。

第3段

It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population now lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans have shelter from the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigours of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate, that is not what happens. Massive floods, long droughts, hurricanes and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops.

人类花了1万年的时间来学习如何种植我们现在认为理所当然的大部分作物。在这个过程中，我们破坏了我们所努力工作的大部分土地，经常将绿意盎然的自然生态区变成半干旱的沙漠。在同一时间范围内，我们进化成了一种城市生物，现在60%的人类居住在城市中心。这意味着，对于大多数人来说，我们人类有遮挡天气的住所，但我们的食物植物却要经受大自然的苛刻条件，我们只能希望有一个好天气的年份。然而，由于气候快速变化，这种情况更多的时候并不会发生。每年的大洪水、长期干旱、飓风和严重的季风都会造成巨大的破坏，毁坏数百万吨有价值的农作物。

第4段

The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system. For instance, crops would be produced all year round, as they would be kept in artificially controlled, optimum growing conditions. There would be no weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods or pests. All the food could be grown organically, eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers. The system would greatly reduce the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface. Although the system would consume energy, it would return energy to the grid via methane generation from composting non- edible parts of plants. It would also dramatically reduce fossil fuel use, by cutting out the need for tractors, ploughs and shipping.

垂直农业的支持者声称该系统具有许多潜在优势。例如，作物可以全年生产，因为它们将保持在人工控制的最佳生长条件下。由于干旱、洪水或害虫等天气原因导致的农作物失败将不再发生。所有食物都可以有机种植，消除了除草剂、杀虫剂和化肥的需求。该系统将大大减少在农业界面获取的许多传染病的发生率。尽管该系统会消耗能源，但通过将植物的非可食部分进行堆肥产生甲烷，它将向电网返回能源。它还将通过消除拖拉机、犁和运输的需求，大大减少化石燃料的使用。

第5段

A major drawback of vertical farming, however, is that the plants would require artificial light. Without it, those plants nearest the windows would be exposed to more sunlight and grow more quickly, reducing the efficiency of the system. Single- storey greenhouses have the benefit of natural overhead light: even so, many still need artificial lighting. A multi-storey facility with no natural overhead light would require far more. Generating enough light could be prohibitively expensive, unless cheap, renewable energy is available, and this appears to be rather a future aspiration than a likelihood for the near future.

然而，垂直农业的一个主要缺点是植物需要人工光照。没有光照，最靠近窗户的植物将暴露在更多阳光下并且生长更快，降低了系统的效率。单层温室具有天然的顶部光照的好处：即使如此，许多温室仍然需要人工照明。没有天然顶部光照的多层设施将需要更多的光照。产生足够的光照可能成本过高，除非便宜的可再生能源可用，但这似乎更像是未来的愿景而不是近期的可能性。

第6段

One variation on vertical farming that has been developed is to grow plants in stacked trays that move on rails. Moving the trays allows the plants to get enough sunlight. This system is already in operation, and works well within a single-storey greenhouse with light reaching it from above: it is not certain, however, that it can be made to work without that overhead natural light.

已经开发出的垂直农业的一个变种是在移动的托盘上种植植物。移动托盘可以让植物获得足够的阳光。这个系统已经在运作中，并且在有来自上方的光照的单层温室中运作良好：然而，目前还不确定它是否可以在没有天然顶部光照的情况下运作。

第7段

Vertical farming is an attempt to address the undoubted problems that we face in producing enough food for a growing population. At the moment, though, more needs to be done to reduce the detrimental impact it would have on the environment, particularly as regards the use of energy. While it is possible that much of our food will be grown in skyscrapers in future, most experts currently believe it is far more likely that we will simply use the space available on urban rooftops.