Shining through: Dutch artist paints farming in a new light to boost crops
荷兰艺术家使用新型光照促进农作物生长
With the help of botanists, Daan Roosegaarde has created a ‘light recipe’ for a field of leeks to help the plants grow better
在植物学家帮助下，丹·罗斯格德创造“光照配方”促进韭葱生长。
By day, the field of leeks looks like any other. But, as the sun sets, blue and red light, mixed with invisible ultraviolet (UV) radiation, transforms the scene into a multicoloured landscape.
这片韭葱地在白天并无特别之处，但是日落之后，红蓝相间的灯光，混合着紫外线不可见光，使这片田地绚丽多彩起来。
This LED light show is not just for effect. For a couple of hours every evening the lights are shone across the 20,000sq metre field in Lelystad in the Netherlands in a bid to make the leeks grow better. In a light installation that brings art and science together, four solar-powered units emit a tailor-made spectrum across the leafy vegetables.
这场LED灯光秀可不是只为了观赏。这些灯在每天晚上都会照射荷兰莱利斯塔德市的20000平方米的田地，以促进韭葱的生长。在每一个将艺术与科学相结合的灯光装置中，有四个太阳能灯光组，为叶片提供特定光谱的光照。
The product of two years’ collaboration between Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde and plant biologists, Grow showcases a “light recipe” that helps crops grow better by effectively lengthening sunlight hours. “Light is all about communication, and plants are super-sensitive to it,” says Roosegaarde.
“Grow”是由荷兰艺术家、设计师丹·罗斯格德与多位植物生物学家合作两年打造的产品，推出“光照配方”，通过有效地延长日照时间促进作物生长。“光照就意味着信息传递，而植物对光照是极其敏感的，” 罗斯格德表示。
For decades, red and blue light has been used in greenhouses and, more recently, in vertical farming operations to improve plant growth and maximise yields. Now it is being applied to crops growing outside.
数十年来，红蓝光照应用在大棚之中，最近在垂直农场种植中用来促进植物生长、提高产量，现在又应用在户外作物种植中。
Prof Jason Wargent is a plant photobiologist working with Roosegaarde to preprogramme the plants using light. “Light acts as an informational cue,” says Wargent, chief science officer and founder of New Zealand-based startup BioLumic.
植物光生物学家杰森·沃金特教授与罗斯格德合作，对使用光照对植物进行预设计。“光照就是信息讯号，” 沃金特表示，他也是位于新西兰的初创企业BioLumic的首席科学官和创始人。
By delivering bespoke combinations of specific types of UV to seeds or seedlings, internal mechanisms can be triggered to increase productivity at a later stage while enhancing the plants’ ability to protect themselves against pests and disease, he explains.
他解释道，通过为种子和秧苗提供量身定制的特定紫外线光照组，我们可以在后期触发其内在机制，实现后期增产，同时也能提高植物的抗虫抗病的能力。
“UV is very specific in terms of the biology that it targets inside the plant, so it triggers things that other lights wouldn’t. It’s a secret, invisible, but potent treatment,” he says.
“紫外线能够特定影响植物体内的生理机制，所以能够起到其他光照所不能的触发作用。该处理方式看不见摸不着，但是很有效力，”他说。
With an estimated global population of 9 billion to feed by 2050, according to the UN, the pressure to increase agricultural productivity is intense, yet many pesticides and fertilisers can result in pollution once released into the soil and waterways. Wargent suggests that light recipes could be “the next great revolution in agriculture”.
根据联合国，到2050年前预计全球要养活90亿人口，因此提高农业生产率的压力巨大，然而许多杀虫剂和肥料一旦进入土壤和水道之中就会造成污染。沃金特建议光照配方可以成为“下一次农业大革命”。
“Farmers need a diverse set of tools now to increase yields. This clean alternative could help reduce the need for agricultural chemicals which themselves are costly and time-consuming to develop, and can pollute the environment once applied,” says Wargent.
沃金特表示，“农民现在需要各种工具来提高产量，（光照）这种清洁的替代方式可以减少对农业化学品的需求，农业化学品的研发成本高、耗时多，而且一旦使用就会污染环境。”
