改革印記：“帶電栽培”助力中國新農業(yè)革命

也許有一天，你能在自家的廚房和陽臺，用電栽培果蔬，整潔衛(wèi)生又能防病蟲害。媒體報道稱，新的帶電栽培技術提高了中國蔬菜大棚的產量，還降低了化肥和農藥的使用量，助力了中國新農業(yè)革命。

Chinese growers have the answer to a question that has been baffling scientists for three centuries: Can electricity boost plant growth?

電能促進植物生長嗎?對于這個困擾了科學家三個世紀的問題，中國的種植戶們有了答案。

To find out, China has been conducting the world’s largest experiment and the results are transforming agricultural production in the world’s most populous nation with a jolt.

為了找到答案，中國一直在進行世界上最大規(guī)模的試驗，其結果將為這個世界人口大國的農業(yè)生產帶來巨變。

Across the country, from Xinjiang’s remote Gobi Desert to the developed coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean, vegetable greenhouse farms with a combined area of more than 3,600 hectares have been taking part in an “electro culture” program funded by the Chinese government.

在全國各地，從新疆偏遠的戈壁沙漠到面朝太平洋的沿海發(fā)達地區(qū)，總面積超過3600公頃的蔬菜大棚正在參與中國政府資助的一項“帶電栽培”計劃。

Last month the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and other government research institutes released the findings of nearly three decades of study in areas with different climate, soil conditions and plantation habits. They are hailing the results as a breakthrough.

上個月，中國農業(yè)科學院和其他政府研究機構發(fā)布了對氣候、土壤條件和種植習慣不同的地區(qū)近30年研究的結果，他們稱結果具有突破性。

The technique has boosted vegetable output by 20 to 30 percent. Pesticide use has decreased 70 to 100 percent. And fertilizer consumption has dropped more than 20 percent.

這項技術使蔬菜產量提高了20%至30%，農藥使用量減少了70%至100%，化肥消耗量下降了20%以上。

The vegetables grow under bare copper wires, set about three metres above ground level and stretching end to end under the greenhouse roof. The wires are capable of generating rapid, positive charges as high as 50,000 volts, or more than 400 times the standard residential voltage in the US.

這些蔬菜生長在裸銅線下，銅線高出地面約3米，在溫室大棚頂下首尾相連。這些銅線能夠產生高達5萬伏的快速正電荷，相當于美國標準住宅電壓的400多倍。

The high frequency electricity kills bacteria and virus-transmitting diseases in the air or soil. It also suppresses the surface tension of water on leaves, accelerating vaporization.

高頻電流能夠殺死空氣或土壤中的細菌和病毒，從而抑制疾病傳播，它還能抑制葉片水分的表面張力，使其加速蒸發(fā)。

Within the plants, the transport of naturally charged particles, such as bicarbonate and calcium ions, speed up and metabolic activities, like carbon dioxide absorption and photosynthesis, also increase.

而在植物內部，碳酸氫根離子和鈣離子等天然帶電粒子的運輸速度加快，二氧化碳吸收和光合作用等代謝活動也在增加。

Professor Liu Binjiang, agriculture scientist and a leading member of the project, said the electric current flowing through the wires is only a few millionths of an ampere by volume – lower than a smartphone cable’s workload.

農業(yè)科學家、該項目的主要成員劉濱疆教授說，裸銅線中的電流只有百萬分之幾安培，比智能手機電線的負荷還要低。

“It does absolutely no harm to the plants or to humans standing nearby,” he said.

他說：“帶電栽培對蔬菜和站在近旁的工作人員完全無害。”

Thanks to the positive findings of the study, the area devoted to electrified farms in China is now growing with unprecedented speed, according to Liu, from 1,000 to 1,300 hectares each year.

劉濱疆教授說，得益于這項研究的積極成果，中國帶電栽培農場的面積正在以前所未有的速度增長，每年增加1000至1300公頃。

That means up to 40 percent growth in electro culture farming could be achieved within the next 12 months.

這意味著，在未來12個月內，中國帶電栽培的增長率可達40%。

“Most recent investments have come from the private sector,” Liu said. “The business is taking off. We are supplying the technology and equipment to other countries including the Netherlands, United States, Australia and Malaysia.

劉濱疆教授說：“最近的投資大多來自私營領域，業(yè)務正在飛速增長。我們正在向荷蘭、美國、澳大利亞和馬來西亞等其他國家提供技術和設備。”

The British and American authorities each commissioned separate studies on electro culture in the early 20th century. The British findings were positive, while the American results were negative.

20世紀初，英國和美國當局分別開展帶電栽培的研究，英國的研究結果是正面的，而美國的結果則是負面的。

These experiments were mostly small and conducted in open fields, with conditions which varied from one location to another. The wide range of natural elements affected the final output and there was no universal standard for hardware design or technical details such as voltage and frequency.

那些試驗大多規(guī)模較小，而且是在空曠的田野進行的，條件因地而異。各種自然因素影響著最終結果，而且在硬件設計或技術細節(jié)(比如電壓和電頻)等方面也沒有通用的標準。

The scientists in these pioneering studies also lacked advanced equipment, such as today’s portable spectrum analyzer, to study the plant’s response to electricity at the molecular level.

從事這些開創(chuàng)性研究的科學家也缺乏先進設備，比如當今的便攜式頻譜分析儀，來研究植物在分子層面上對電的反應。

As a consequence, explanations of the observed phenomenon remained speculative and interest waned with the advent of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to achieve mass agricultural production.

因此，對實驗觀察結果的解釋仍然是推測性的。隨著化肥和殺蟲劑的出現，農業(yè)實現了大規(guī)模生產，人們對帶電栽培的興趣逐漸消退。

Public interest in electro culture revived with the rise of organic farming and the Chinese government started funding experiments in the technique in 1990.

但在有機農業(yè)興起之后，人們對帶電栽培恢復了興趣，中國于1990年開始資助這項技術的試驗。

He Feng, senior technician of Yufa Jingnan Vegetable Production and Sales, one of Beijing’s largest vegetable producers, said the company had taken part in the program since 2014 and the results were “very satisfactory”.

北京最大的蔬菜生產企業(yè)之一榆垡京南蔬菜產銷專業(yè)合作社的高級技術員何峰(音)說，該公司自2014年以來一直參與這項計劃，結果“非常令人滿意”。

In just two years the electrified vegetables had brought in extra revenue of nearly 1.2 million yuan.

僅僅兩年時間，帶電栽培蔬菜就增收近120萬元人民幣。

“We are still running the equipment, which consumes very little power,” he said.

他說：“我們還在使用那些設備，耗電很少。”

One hectare of electrified greenhouse requires about 15 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, which is about half the power usage of an average American family.

一公頃的帶電栽培溫室大棚每天需要用電大約15千瓦時，大約是美國一個普通家庭每天用電量的一半。

Inside the greenhouse the air smells like the aftermath of a summer thunderstorm. Humidity is low and the plants rarely get sick.

在溫室大棚里，空氣中彌漫著夏天雷雨過后的味道。濕度低，植物很少患病蟲害。

The biggest burden is the installation cost, He said, with the necessary hardware costing tens of thousands of yuan. Without government support, the company could not have afforded to wire up all its greenhouses.

何峰說，最大的負擔是安裝費用，所需的硬件成本達數萬元。如果沒有政府的支持，該公司沒有財力讓所有的大棚都實現帶電栽培。

Liu Yongyi, owner of City Luhai Xinghua Sightseeing Agriculture company in Beijing’s Daxing district, which is also engaging in electro culture, said the technology would significantly improve China’s food safety by massively reducing the use of pesticides.

北京市大興區(qū)都市綠海興華觀光農業(yè)有限公司也在從事帶電栽培，該公司老板劉永義(音)說，這項技術將大大減少農藥的使用，從而提高中國的食品安全水平。

“Pesticide residue is a huge threat to public health. Electricity provides a physical solution to disease and pest control. It is much cleaner than chemicals. The government should subsidize the electro culture revolution,” he said.

他說：“農藥殘留是對公眾健康的巨大威脅，電力為控制病蟲害提供了物理解決方案，它比化學品干凈得多，政府應該補貼帶電栽培革命。”

Liu said visitors to the farm were intrigued when they saw the system at work and he believed the public would be quick to embrace the technology.

他說，參觀農場的人們看到這個系統(tǒng)時都很好奇，他相信公眾會很快接受這項技術。

“The theory is easy to understand. I believe people would be willing to pay a premium for electrified vegetables and fruits in the near future,” he said.

他說：“這個理論很容易理解。我相信，在不久的將來，人們會愿意為帶電栽培的蔬菜和水果支付更高的價格。”

Professor Liu said there were no plans to electrify them all, as the investment would be unaffordable for most farmers.

劉濱疆教授說，目前還沒有給所有溫室大棚通電的計劃，因為大多數農民負擔不起這筆投資。

His project team is taking a different approach and developing a compact, all-in-one vegetable growing chamber using electro culture technology.

因此他的項目組正在采取另一種方法：利用帶電栽培技術開發(fā)一個緊湊的、一體化的蔬菜種植室。

“Each family would be able to grow their own food in the kitchen, on the balcony or in the backyard,” he said.

劉濱疆說：“每個家庭都能在廚房、陽臺或后院種植自己的食物。”

The chamber uses an artificial light source and electric field to stimulate plant growth and prevent diseases. Operation is automatic and almost care and maintenance free.

這個種植室利用人工光源和電場來刺激植物生長和預防疾病，操作全自動化，幾乎不需要料理和維護。

“One day these tiny chambers may become an alternative to large scale farms,” Liu said. “That would trigger another agricultural revolution.”

他說：“有朝一日，這些小種植室可能會替代大型農場，那將引發(fā)另一場農業(yè)革命。”