AGRICULTURE REPORT - Mixing Plants, Part 1

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Mixing Plants, Part 1
By Bob Bowen

Broadcast: Tuesday, March 22, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Agricultural scientists are continually looking for new ways to improve crops, control insects and reduce the need for chemicals.

It is a never-ending search. It often results in finding a solution for one problem while making another problem worse.

Sometimes, however, farmers can solve several problems at the same time. They can do this by carefully choosing the crops they plant in the same field.

In the early nineteen nineties the magazine Organic Gardening, from the Rodale Institute, published some studies on this subject.

There was advice from a scientist named Kimberly Stoner, an insect expert at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. She said farmers can keep flea¹ beetles³ out of broccoli⁴ fields by planting clover in the same field.

Flea beetles cannot find broccoli when it is surrounded by clover. So the insect flies away in search of broccoli that is growing in a field without clover.

Another method of protecting the main crop is to plant it in the same field with some plants that insects do not like.

For example, the Colorado potato beetle² does not like tansy because of the strong smell of this herb. So researchers at the Rodale Institute planted tansy in several potato fields.

The population of Colorado potato beetles was reduced anywhere from sixty to one hundred percent. The reduction depended on the amount of tansy planted. Studies done later in a laboratory showed that tansy produces a natural chemical that keeps the potato beetle at a distance.

In fact, some insects like weeds more than they like crop plants. Scientists did some research at the Subtropical Cotton Insects Research Station in Texas. They planted ragweed and pigweed in a field of bell peppers.

Leaf miner insects can destroy a bell pepper crop. But, when given a choice of bell peppers or ragweed and pigweed, the insects chose the weeds.

In another experiment, researchers in India planted cabbage and mustard⁵ greens in the same field. They were attempting to control diamondback moths⁶ and leafwebbers. In three separate tests, the insects chose the mustard greens instead of the main crop, the cabbage.

Next week, we will discuss how some plants help each other through their root systems. And we will discuss how some plants attract helpful insects that feed on harmful insects.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Bob Bowen. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 flea   

n.跳蚤

参考例句：

• I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。
• Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。

2 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

3 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

5 mustard   

n.芥子，芥末，深黄色，强烈的兴趣，热情的人

参考例句：

• This meat should be seasoned with salt and mustard.这肉里应该加点盐和芥末调味。
• This mustard is hot enough to bite your tongue.这种芥末很辣，你的舌头会吃不消的。

6 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》