文档介绍：智慧农业：农业发展的未来
在这个大部分人口不愁吃、不愁穿的年头，农业的重要性很容易被人忽略。然而展望未来，人口不断膨胀，可用耕地越来越有限，影响农业的不可预测因素也层出不穷，该如何养活全球人口是我们不得不面对的严肃问题。过去，我们依靠科技解决了人们的温饱问题，未来我们需要让农业的经营跟上信息化的步伐，朝着更加精细化、智能化的方向发展。
The agricultural sector is going to face enormous challenges in order to feed the 9. 6 billion people that the FA01) predicts are going to inhabit the planet by 2050: Food production must increase by 70% by 2050, and this has to be achieved in spite of the limited availability of arable2) lands, the increasing need for fresh water (agriculture consumes 70 per cent of the world' s fresh water supply) and other less predictable factors, such as the impact of climate change, which, according to a recent report by the UN could lead, among other things3), to changes to seasonal events in the life cycle of plant and animals.
One way to address these issues and increase the quality and quantity of agricultural production is using sensing technology to make farms more “intelligent” and more connected through the
smart
so-called “ precision agriculture^ also known as farming."
It' s something that' s already happening, as corporations and farm offices collect vast amounts of information from crop yields, soil-mapping, fertiliser applications, weather data, machinery, and animal health. In a subset of smart farming, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF), sensors are used for monitoring and early detection of reprodu