VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Africa Eyes Boosting Rice Crop to Fight Hunger

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)農(nóng)業(yè)報(bào)道。

Researchers are developing ways to increase rice production in Africa as part of efforts to fight hunger. Their work was discussed at the African Rice Congress in Cameroon last month. Experts say 60 percent of the thirty million tons of rice used in Africa is imported from Asia.

研究人員正在設(shè)法提高非洲稻米產(chǎn)量作為消除饑餓措施的一部分。上月在喀麥隆舉行的非洲水稻大會(huì)對(duì)他們的工作進(jìn)行了討論。專家們說(shuō)，在非洲消耗的3千萬(wàn)噸稻米中，有60%是從亞洲進(jìn)口的。

They estimate that Africa spends $5 billion on rice imports every year. And yet the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says they are still rice shortages on the continent.

他們估計(jì)，非洲每年要花費(fèi)50億美元用于進(jìn)口稻米。然而聯(lián)合國(guó)糧農(nóng)組織(FAO)表示，非洲大陸仍然存在稻米短缺。

Rice production was reduced in some countries after the economic crisis of the 1990s. Samantana Mark is director general of Cameroon's rice production company, SEMRY.

在20世紀(jì)90年代的經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)后，一些國(guó)家的稻米產(chǎn)量有所下降。馬克(Samantana Mark)是喀麥隆稻米生產(chǎn)企業(yè)SEMRY的總干事。

He says that with beginning of the crisis, African countries stopped making investments in rice production and in the marketing of rice. Issues like climate change and extreme temperatures have slowed rice production, especially in areas south of the Saharan desert.

他說(shuō)，危機(jī)爆發(fā)伊始非洲國(guó)家就停止了在稻米生產(chǎn)和稻米營(yíng)銷上的投資。氣候變化和極端溫度等問(wèn)題也延緩了稻米生產(chǎn)，特別是在撒哈拉以南地區(qū)。

Plant disease is also a problem. But some African researchers say they have developed rice plants that can grow in areas with little rainfall.

農(nóng)作物病害也是一個(gè)問(wèn)題。但一些非洲研究人員表示，他們已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)出可以在降雨稀少地區(qū)種植的水稻植株。

Nigerian-born Adekoya Madinat works with the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

尼日利亞出生的Adekoya Madinat就職于上海農(nóng)科院。

"With this research we try to see how much water exactly is needed for rice production and try to see which genes are actually recruited during the event of droughts. So these genes can be used to develop drought-resistant varieties that can be planted with minimal water and we still have very good yields and food security," said Madinat.

她說(shuō)，“通過(guò)這項(xiàng)研究，我們?cè)噲D看一下水稻生產(chǎn)究竟需要多少水，以及在干旱時(shí)期哪些基因被補(bǔ)充了進(jìn)來(lái)。這樣，這些基因就可以用于開(kāi)發(fā)能夠種植在缺水地區(qū)的抗旱品種，這樣我們的糧食產(chǎn)量就會(huì)很不錯(cuò)，糧食安全也沒(méi)問(wèn)題。”

Delegates to the congress called for great mechanization of African agriculture, and they agree that investing in rice production requires a lot of money.

大會(huì)代表呼吁非洲農(nóng)業(yè)大幅機(jī)械化，他們也認(rèn)同，投資稻米生產(chǎn)需要大量資金。

Robert Guei works for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. He says that investments in rice production should be a top issue for African governments seeking to end hunger and poverty.

Robert Guei就職于聯(lián)合國(guó)糧農(nóng)組織。他表示，投資稻米生產(chǎn)應(yīng)該成為尋求解決饑餓和貧窮的非洲國(guó)家的首要問(wèn)題。

"African governments have to support small companies. These people have to be encouraged so governments have to come out with good policies whereby these companies are subsidized. Help them to have credits to banks and loans so that they can produce these varieties of rice and distribute and this is what FAO is doing now, talking to governments to set up policies," said Guei.

他說(shuō)，“非洲政府必須支持小企業(yè)，這些人應(yīng)當(dāng)受到鼓勵(lì)。因此政府必須出臺(tái)好政策，這些企業(yè)由此獲得補(bǔ)貼。政府要幫助他們獲得銀行信貸，使他們能夠生產(chǎn)這些品種的稻米。糧農(nóng)組織正在和政府商量制定政策。”

Experts say that currently, African countries produce about 12 million tons of rice per year.

專家們表示，目前，非洲國(guó)家每年生產(chǎn)大約1200萬(wàn)噸稻米。