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柬埔寨香米获世界大奖有助出口

For the third year in a row, Cambodia’s premier¹ rice has been voted the world’s best at the World Rice Conference. The award, which it shares this year with Thailand, comes at a time when Cambodia is looking at rice exports as a way to increase incomes for its many impoverished² subsistence farmers.

连续三年来，柬埔寨的优质大米在世界大米会议上被投票选为世界最佳大米。共同获此殊荣的还有泰国大米。柬埔寨有很多自耕自足的贫困农民，政府希望靠出口大米来帮助脱贫。

Although Cambodia is a minnow in the world rice stakes, producing just 1 percent of global output in 2012, the award for its fragrant³ romduol varietal should help promote exports.

柬埔寨在国际稻米市场微不足道，2012年全球稻米产量中只有1%出自柬埔寨，不过， “隆多”(romduol)香米获奖应该有助于柬埔寨稻米出口。

The rice industry, though small-scale and inefficient⁴, remains⁵ key to the economy. Most Cambodians survive in part by growing rice on small plots. Inefficiencies mean large amounts of unmilled rice -- known as paddy -- go to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam where they fetch a higher price.

柬埔寨的稻米产业规模虽小，效率低下，但却是国民经济的关键。多数柬埔寨人依靠在小块土地上种稻维生。低效率意味着大量的未碾磨大米流入邻国泰国和越南，这些糙米能在那里卖更高的价钱。

Sok Puthyvuth, the president of the Cambodia Rice Federation⁶, which represents all players in the industry, said, “We need better seeds, we need a better collection process, we need better storage, we need better logistics, and also our exports need to brand Cambodian rice to be one of the top brands in the world.”

代表稻米界所有各方的“柬埔寨稻米联合会”的主席宋波提武(Sok Puthyvuth)说：“我们需要更好的种子、更好的收集流程、更好的仓储、更好的物流。我们的出口业还需要打造柬埔寨稻米的品牌，让它成为世界最佳品牌之一。”

Higher target

The target is 1 million tons of milled rice exported by 2015. So far this year Cambodia has exported about 400,000 tons -- mostly to the European Union.

目标是到2015年出口一百万吨的碾磨大米。今年到目前为止，柬埔寨已经出口了大约40万吨，主要客户是欧盟。

Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon said a central tenet -- to boost farmers' incomes -- remains key to government efforts to improve the industry.

副首相吉春(Keat Chhon)说，核心目标之一是增加农民收入，这仍然是政府改进稻米业的关键努力。

“I want to emphasize that the purpose of the rice policy is to reduce poverty, to ensure people in rural areas earn more, and to reduce the development gap between rural and urban areas,” Chhon said.

吉春副首相说：“我想强调的是，稻米政策的目标是减少贫困，确保农村地区的居民可以增加收入，并减少城乡地区的发展差距。”

To help develop the industry, China is loaning $300 million to improve warehousing.

为了帮助发展稻米业，中国提供3亿美元贷款以帮助改善仓储。

Premium⁷ branding

Yet longstanding problems remain, said exporter David Van, including the high cost of electricity and a lack of quality seedlings⁸.

不过，出口商大卫?范(David Van)说，长期性的问题仍然存在，包括电力成本高以及缺少稻苗。

Van also wants better branding for the award-winning rice, which currently is marketed as “Cambodian Jasmine Rice.” He said that name is too close to Thailand’s fragrant variety.

他还希望柬埔寨得奖大米能有更好的品牌。目前的市场招牌是“柬埔寨茉莉香米”，这和泰国香米过于雷同。

“You need to differentiate⁹ your product from your competitor next door, otherwise you will keep on being compared automatically to what the next-door competitor is offering," Van said.

“你需要把你的产品跟身边的竞争者区别开来，否则，别人就会自动把你跟人家的产品拿来做比较。”

"If you are talking about jasmine rice, we have a variety that has won consecutively¹⁰ the world’s best rice, which is the romduol. So maybe it is high time that we really develop a branding based on the romduol  variety," he said.

如果你是说茉莉香米，那我们有一种香米连续获得世界最佳大米奖，也就是‘隆多’。所以也许我们应该基于‘隆多’这个品种尽快创出一个品牌来。

Challenges remain: Thailand’s rice stockpile has driven down prices, making it harder to compete; meantime countries like Myanmar also want to increase exports.

挑战依然存在：泰国的稻米存量已经压低了市场价格，这增加了竞争难度。与此同时，缅甸等国也想增加出口。

But even if Cambodia doesn’t reach the million-ton target next year, its award-winning rice should appear on more plates around the world, lifting incomes for millers¹¹, exporters and its millions of impoverished farmers.

不过，即使柬埔寨达不到明年出口一百万吨的目标，它的得奖大米看来肯定会出现在世界各地更多的饭桌上，这将为碾米商、出口商和数以百万计的贫困农民创造更多的收入。