VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Rice Production Grows, but Not Everywhere

 

Agriculture Report - Rice Production Grows, but Not Everywhere

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

The United Nations is expecting the world to harvest more rice in twenty twelve than was produced last year. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says the world rice harvest should rise almost two percent, mainly because of increased production in Asia. Large gains are expected for Bangladesh, Burma, China, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand.

The FAO also is predicting a recovery for rice harvests in Africa. It expects increased production from Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. 

But the UN agency says harvests will be lower in the European Union and the United States. Two reasons for this are unusually dry weather and falling rice prices, which have led some farmers to plant other crops. Smaller rice harvests also are expected in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Concepcion Calpe is an economist¹ with the FAO. She says good harvests in Asia will lead to reduced demand for rice this year. Demand is expected to fall nine hundred thousand tons to about thirty-four million metric tons.

Ms. Calpe says one reason for the expected drop is better than expected production by some major importers, like Indonesia and Bangladesh. Other countries have set limits on how much rice they are willing to import. 

The FAO says rice prices have stayed high for many reasons. They include higher costs for fuel, fertilizer and, in some areas, labor². One country where rice prices remain high is China. Concepcion Calpe says the high prices appear to be in disagreement with official Chinese reports of record harvests.

In Thailand, a government price-support program has led rice exports to fall by twenty percent, to less than eight million tons. The program keeps Thai rice export prices above market prices. As a result, the FAO says, exporters like Australia, India and Vietnam have captured a larger market share.

Ms. Calpe notes that Burma could become a major exporter of rice. Many Western governments have eased trade restrictions³ on Burma recently because of its efforts at political and economic reform. Foreign investment and increased productivity in Cambodia also might help that country export more rice.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.  I'm Jim Tedder⁴.

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Contributing: Ron Corben

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网