VOA慢速英语2010年-Agriculture Report - Farmers in East A

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

About eight hundred million people in Africa, Asia and South America eat cassava. The plant is a major source of food energy and a major food security crop. It can survive in poor soil and without much water. Also, the root can stay in the ground for as long as three years, so it can be harvested as needed.

But in East Africa the plant is under attack. Cassava brown streak¹ disease is a more destructive form of cassava mosaic². The mosaic has been active in East Africa for about one hundred years. It limits plant growth. But brown streak can destroy a crop. The virus was identified in Uganda in two thousand four and has spread fast in areas extending from Lake Victoria.

So far, brown streak has not jumped to Nigeria, the world's largest producer of cassava. But it threatens more than thirty million tons a year of production in East Africa. In some areas of Uganda, rates of brown streak reached more than eighty-five percent in two thousand five and two thousand eight.

Claude Fauquet is a scientist at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Saint Louis, Missouri. He says a few varieties of cassava can resist brown streak, but these are not the kinds Africans like. He is working to develop disease-resistant plants, but he says it will probably take five years.

A woman collects cassava leaves in eastern Kenya

Loss of cassava crops could lead to hunger. And hunger can lead to migration³ and conflict. About fifty million dollars is coming from the Gates Foundation, the Monsanto Fund and the United States Agency for International Development. But Claude Fauquet says much more is needed to fight the disease.

Brown streak can be hard to identify in the field. Irregular yellow spots may appear on lower leaves. But farmers sometimes do not find the disease until they cut open a cassava. If there is only a small amount of rot, the dead material can be cut away. But if the disease has progressed, the whole root is ruined.

Scientists partly blame whiteflies for spreading the disease from plant to plant. Brown streak also spreads if farmers sell or give away cuttings of infected plants.

Cassava has many food uses but the plant is not safe to eat unless it is specially⁴ prepared. It must be processed through methods like boiling, grinding or fermenting⁵. A substance that can produce deadly levels of cyanide when eaten must be removed.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Karen Legget.

 

1 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

2 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

3 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

4 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

5 fermenting   

v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰

参考例句：

• The fermenting wine has bubbled up and over the top. 发酵的葡萄酒已经冒泡，溢了出来。 来自辞典例句
• It must be processed through methods like boiling, grinding or fermenting. 它必须通过煮沸、研磨、或者发酵等方法加工。 来自互联网