More than five million people crowd into this small wealthy island city.

超過五百萬人口聚集在這狹小卻富有的島城

Land here comes at a premium, forcing people to expand up rather than out.

這裡的土地很低，促使人們蓋高樓，而非向外擴張

And it's not just office towers and apartment complexes that are reaching skyward.

但不只是辦公大樓和公寓越蓋越高

Singapore now has one of the world's first commercial vertical farms. It's called SkyGreens.

新加坡首創了垂直耕作技術，名為SkyGreens

This is the framework. This is a greenhouse. 50 year old entrepreneur, Jack Ng, an engineer by training, is the farm's owner and designer.

這是骨架。這裡是座溫室。擁有工程背景的五十歲企業家Jack Ng，是這間農場的設計師兼主人。

Translucent structures, nearly four stories tall line the property.

四層樓高的農場，半透明的設計，陳列了農場作物

On the inside automated towers of vegetables rotate like Ferris wheels in slow motion between a nutrient-infused bath below and the sun above.

農場底部有營養池，上有陽光照射，內部的機械自動將作物像摩天輪一樣，慢慢地在營養池和陽光之間轉動

Ng says each tower is powered by a gravity-fed water wheel.

Ng表示，每一座塔都是由重力水車提供電力

It's an ancient technology with a modern twist.

一種傳統技術和現代科技的結合

Ng says one of the biggest benefits of this closed loop, hydraulic system is how little energy it consumes.

Ng說，這種封閉迴路的水壓系統最大的好處就是節省能源

Electricity we use in Singapore it's three dollars per month for this whole tower.

在新加坡，一座塔的電費一個月只要三塊錢

That's three dollars a month to run this entire tower... or about the same amount of electricity used in single 60-watt lightbulb.

只需要三塊錢就可以支撐一座塔的運作，大概是一顆60瓦特電燈泡所需的電量

You can try the lettuce. OK it's fresh.

吃吃看萵苣，很新鮮。

Eating local, freshly picked greens is a luxury in Singapore.

在新加坡要吃到當地現採現摘的蔬菜是很奢侈的。

With just 250 acres of farmland left, the city grows only seven percent of the produce it consumes.

新加坡只剩下250英畝的耕地，整座城市所生產的作物只佔所需的百分之七。

That may be an extreme case, but it represents a looming problem facing cities all over the world, says Columbia University ecologist, Dickson Despommier.

哥倫比亞大學生態學家Dickson Despommier說這或許是很極端的案例，但這顯現全球大城市可能將面對的問題。

We're going to reach a tipping point very soon where traditional agriculture can no longer supply enough food for the people living on the planet.

我們將面臨臨界點，到時傳統耕作無法供應足夠食物給全世界的人口。

He says producing enough food for the three and a half billion people living in cities today requires an amount of land twice the size of South America.

Despommier表示，若要供應足夠的量給全球35億城市人口，所需的土地是南美洲的兩倍大

That would be ok if we could stabilize our population at 7 billion. But that's not going to happen.

如果我們可以控制人口數在七十億，糧食短缺就不成問題，但這不可能發生。

Despommier believes that 80 percent of the world's population will be living in cities by 2050... making today's challenges seem trivial by comparison.

Despommier 深信在2050年前，百分之八十的世界人口會居住在城市，和現在相比，現在的問題還算小事

The question arises, can we supply enough food for everybody on the planet including a growing urban population.

問題來了，伴隨城市人口不斷增加，我們有辦法供應足夠的糧食嗎？

And I think we can. And I think we can do it by empowering people in the cities to grow food right there.

我想是可以的！只要授權給市民在城市種作物的權力，就有可能！

SkyGreens' vertical farm offers one example of how that may be possible, not just technically but also economically.

SkyGreens垂直農場就是個絕佳典範，顯示不只在其技術上的可能性，還有經濟上的改變。

The system is ten times more productive per square foot than conventional farming.

這個系統生產的作物是傳統耕作一平方英尺產量的十倍

It also takes a lot less water, labor and chemical inputs.

也浪費較少水資源，節省勞力，減低化學藥品劑量。

Singapore is currently looking very much into urban production.

現在新加坡非常正視都市生產

Doctor Lee Sing Kong directs Singapore's National Institute of Education.

李盛光教授指導新加坡國立教育學院

I think eventually urban factories for vegetable production would take place in place of electronic factories in Singapore.

我認為生產農作物的都市工廠最終會取代那些電子工廠

But Lee says visit any Singapore restaurant and you can see just how far the country is from being self-sufficient.

李教授也說，去看看新加坡餐廳，就知道新加坡離自給自足還有一大段距離。

If you look at the plate of food on the table, say vegetables, it could come from China.

看看餐盤中的蔬菜，可能是來自中國

It could come from the neighboring countries of Indonesia or Malaysia.

也有可能來自鄰近的印尼或馬來西亞

Or it could come in terms of salad greens, as far off as the US and the European countries like Holland.

沙拉生菜可能來自美國或歐洲國家，像荷蘭

Maintaining that supply of food from so many foreign sources is a monumental task.

要從國外進口食物是非常繁複的任務

Every night hundreds of trucks enter Singapore from Malaysia and beyond, unloading their cargo of fruit and vegetables at this central wholesale market.

每天晚上，上百輛來自馬來西亞或者更遠地方的貨車，在中央批發市場卸貨

From here the food is loaded onto smaller trucks and delivered throughout the city before sunrise.

食物在這裡分裝在較小台的卡車，在日出前配送至各地

More than 90 percent of the food in Singapore's grocery stores like this one comes from foreign countries.

新加坡雜貨店裡超過百分之九十的食物都來自國外

That makes local, urban produce like SkyGreens a premium novelty for customers.

讓當地的城市農作物，像是SkyGreens，對顧客來說很新穎

But to some it's much more than that. It's an insurance policy.

但對某些人來說，不只是這樣，這是個很保險的政策

Supermarkets buy food from dozens of other countries as a defense against climate-related disruptions in the global food chain.

超市從世界各地購買食物，用以對抗、因應全球食物鏈中的因氣候導致的災害

But the National Institute of Education's Lee Sing Kong, says that even that may not be enough to guarantee a steady food supply in the future.

但國立教育學院李盛光教授提出，即使這樣做也無法保證將來一樣有穩定的食物來源

We do anticipate the need for our own production to a certain level of self-sufficiency.

我們確實期望能達到某種自給自足

I think the government has set a target -- initial target of 10% to 20% of our need and if we can achieve that I think there will be a great feat.

我記得政府設了一個目標，一開始希望能達到10~20%自給自足，如果能達成，就是個偉大的成就

Singapore recently invested 20 million dollars in a fund to boost domestic food production through new farming technologies like SkyGreens.

近期新加坡投資兩千萬基金，促進農產品生產，鼓勵像SkyGreens這樣的新興農業技術

But Lee says incentives alone aren't ENOUGH.

但李教授說光是投資是不夠的

First, he says, high rise farming needs to be cost competitive.

李教授表示，第一步，垂直農耕技術需要在成本上更有競爭力

Whatever we produce in Singapore must compete with the prices of vegetables coming in Singapore.

所有新加坡產的作物都要跟外國進口作物比價

So that's why the government in Singapore is now encouraging and emphasizing models of urban farming that can really not just increase productivity but also lowering cost of production.

這就是為何新加坡政府鼓勵城市耕作，並強調其重要性，這樣一來不只可以提高生產力，還可以壓低成本

Skygreens owner Jack Ng says he's confident he can compete.

SkyGreens主人Jack Ng非常有自信，相信自己非常有競爭力

Three years into his experiment, he says his operating costs are only a quarter of what it would cost to run a conventional farm.

他表示，三年的實驗只花費的傳統農耕成本的四分之一。

And since he's local, his transportation costs are also minimal, making his fresh lettuce and Chinese cabbage price-competitive with mass-produced, cheap imports.

也因為他是本地人，運輸費可以壓到最低，讓他的萵苣及大白菜跟外國進口的相比，更有競爭力。

But most importantly, Ng says they taste better.

但最重要的是，Ng強調，它們更加美味

He says the "same day" freshness of his greens is a real selling point.

他說「當天」新鮮現摘是他農作物的賣點

My customer keep on asking us, can you produce more, can you supply more?

我的客戶不斷詢問我們，你們可不可以產多一點？供應多一點？

Ng has raised 28 million dollars in public and private money to more than quadruple his capacity over the next year and a half.

Ng已向大眾和私人捐贈募到兩千八百萬，遠超過他未來一年半所需經費的四倍以上

And in fast rising Singapore, that seems like a smart investment.

在快速起飛的新加坡，這是很聰明的投資。