VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Feed the Soil, Feed the Crops

 

Agriculture Report - Feed the Soil, Feed the Crops

 

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Studies show farmland in Africa is often lacking in important nutrients¹. But researchers say a combination of farming methods may help.

Since the world food crisis several years ago, researchers have directed more of their attention to small farms. Most farms in areas south of the Sahara Desert are only about one or two hectares. One of the goals is to increase production without necessarily clearing more land to grow additional crops.

American researchers say that can happen with greater use of an agricultural system called perenniation. It mixes food crops with trees and perennial² plants – those that return year after year.

Soil scientist John Reganold is with Washington State University.

JOHN REGANOLD: “One of the major problems (is that the) soils are fairly poor in most of the regions. So how do you grow food on poor soils? There have to be food production systems that can build the soil and improve the yield.”

Mr. Reganold says poor soil may have resulted from years of weathering that washed away many nutrients. He says some farmers may have done more harm than good.

JOHN REGANOLD: “They have been actually using farming practices where they’re not putting in organic matter. They’re not putting in fertilizers. They can’t afford those things. And it just runs the soil down. So they’re worsening the situation.”

He estimates that up to two billion dollars worth of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium is lost from African soil each year.

The scientist says the word perenniation defines three systems that are already used in Africa. The oldest of the three is called evergreen³ agriculture. This is where farmers plant trees with their crops. John Reganold says farmers in Africa have been doing this for sixty years, but it seems to be growing in popularity.

The method is gaining widespread use in countries such as Niger, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Zambia. The trees are planted among maize⁴, millet⁵ or sorghum⁶ crops. They not only add nitrogen to the soil through their roots, but also through their leaves when they fall off and break down. At other times of the year, the trees can protect plants from strong sunlight.

John Reganold says he knows of one woman who has had great success with perenniation.

JOHN REGANOLD: “She’s a grandmother in her fifties. Her name is Rhoda Mang’yana and she started using this system about twenty years ago. And her yields initially⁷ were about a ton of maize. Now with a good year she gets four tons per hectare. Four times what she was getting.”

Mr. Reganold was one of three researchers who wrote a report about perenniation. It was published in the journal Nature.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I’m Steve Ember.

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Contributing: Joe De Capua

 

1 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

3 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

4 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

5 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

6 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。