Global investments in agricultural innovation topped(达到，超过) $16bn in 2025, according to a report by Agfunder, a venture-capital company(风险投资公司). Of this, $9bn went to new research into boosting farm yields, up from $2.5bn in 2016.
根据风险投资公司Agfunder的报告，2025年全球农业创新投资总额达160亿美元。其中，90亿美元用于提高农场产量的新研究，而2016年这一数字为25亿美元。
The boost comes at an opportune(恰好的，适时的) moment. Food markets have been beset(困扰，围困) by volatility in recent years, first as a result of a global pandemic, then a war in Ukraine and now a new war in the Middle East. On top of this, global warming is causing droughts, soil salinisation(盐碱化) and increasingly erratic(不稳定的，反复无常的) and extreme weather. Yet the fundamentals of food production were last overhauled in the mid-20th century.(然而，粮食生产的基础设施上一次彻底改革还是在20世纪中期。)
这一增长恰逢其时。近年来，粮食市场受到波动性的困扰，先是全球疫情，然后是乌克兰战争，现在又是中东的新战争。此外，全球变暖正导致干旱、土壤盐碱化以及愈发反复无常和极端的天气。然而，粮食生产的基础设施上一次彻底改革还是在20世纪中期。
Happily, uncertainty can help to drive disruptive technologies. Global investment in agrifood technology spiked(激增，飙升) in 2021 as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, rising from $22bn in 2019 to a high of $55bn. “Volatility is very bad for people who want to eat, but good for tech adoption(波动性对想要吃饭的人来说非常糟糕，但对技术的采用却有利。),” says Adam Anders, a managing partner(管理合伙人) of Anterra Capital, a Dutch venture-capital company that specialises in food and agriculture technology.
幸运的是，不确定性有助于推动颠覆性技术。由于新冠疫情，2021年全球农业食品技术投资激增，从2019年的220亿美元飙升至550亿美元的高点。“波动性对想要吃饭的人来说非常糟糕，但对技术的采用却有利，”荷兰风险投资公司Anterra Capital的管理合伙人亚当·安德斯说，该公司专注于食品和农业技术。