VOA标准英语2008年-US Company Launches Effort to Save Global Cocoa

Like people around the world, Americans love a good bar of chocolate or anything containing the confection. But climate change and diseases are ravaging¹ cocoa bean crops in many parts of the world, eroding² production and raising prices of the essential ingredient used to make chocolate. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, a U.S.-based candy company is teaming up with agricultural researchers to fight the threat.
　
Local villagers work on their cocoa farm in Abo village near Ikom, Nigeria (Dec 2007 file photo)

In the mid-1980s, Brazil was the world's third-largest grower of cocoa beans. That was before the emergence³ of two strains of fungus⁴ that attacked and decimated the country's cacao trees from which cocoa beans are harvested. Today, Brazil is a net importer of cocoa beans, and most of the world's remaining production is centered in African countries like Ivory Coast and Asian nations like Indonesia.

Today, drought threatens cocoa bean production in West Africa. And even though the fungus strains that wiped out Brazil's cacao plantations⁵ have yet to migrate beyond the Americas, researchers believe it is only a matter of time before they do so.

Raymond Schnell is a geneticist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, working from the agency's subtropical horticulture research facility in Miami, Florida.

"The two [fungal] diseases do not exist in Africa or Asia. And Africa and Asia are the main production areas at this time, not Central and South America anymore. So if the diseases were to move, as diseases tend to do, it would cause major problems in these production areas, because all the material [cocoa beans] being grown in Africa and Asia now is susceptible⁷ to these two diseases," explains Schnell.

The solution? Develop cacao trees that are resistant⁸ to fungus and that can better withstand drought and other adverse⁹ climate conditions. For nearly 10 years, U.S.-based candy giant Mars has helped fund USDA projects to probe cacao's genetic⁶ code. Raymond Schnell says sufficient progress has been made to take the project to the next level: the sequencing and analysis of the plant's entire genome.

"What we have now are [genetic] markers that we can use to help us select for these disease-resistance traits. But in order to move the program forward, what we really need to do is have all the sequence information. And Mars has agreed to fund that project, where we are going to sequence the cacao genome," says Schnell.

Mars is contributing $10 million to the project, which is expected to take several years to complete. The resulting genetic data will then be studied for patterns that suggest disease resistant traits that can be employed in cacao breeding programs.

Mars officials are quoted as saying they intend to play an active role that "takes charge of the future" of cocoa bean production, rather than leaving matters to chance. For nations that depend heavily on cocoa crops, as well as chocolate manufacturers and chocolate lovers across the globe, the stakes are high.

　

 

1 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

2 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

3 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

4 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

5 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

6 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

7 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

8 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

9 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。