VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Why 'Precision Agriculture' Is a Good Investment

 

Agriculture Report - Why 'Precision Agriculture' Is a Good Investment

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Precision agriculture is a way of thinking about how to improve production and get more from existing resources. It often involves the use of technology. An example found mostly in wealthier countries is a computer-guided tractor. The computer does most of the driving. It uses signals from satellites in the Global Positioning System. GPS technology helps the tractor cut rows in straight lines and put the right amount of fertilizer in the right place.

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Jimmy Messick is a farmer in northern Virginia, not far from Washington. He says the GPS guidance system makes it easy to come back later and plant the seed in his fields of maize¹, or corn.

JIMMY MESSICK: "Because the tractor that's pulling the planter also has the same auto-guidance system in it as the tractor that applied² the fertilizer and did this tillage, it will come back and put the seed right on top of these marks."

Because of the GPS guidance, Mr. Messick now pays half what he once did for fertilizer.

Bruce Erickson is an agronomist³ at Purdue University in Indiana. He says saving even a little bit of seed, pesticide⁴ or fertilizer "computes⁵ directly to cost savings⁶ and less environmental damage."

Raj Khosla is an agronomist at Colorado State University. He says farmers in the developing world can use precision agriculture even without high-tech⁷ tractors.

RAJ KHOSLA: "We do not necessarily have to have complex, large machinery⁸ to practice what could be done as [simply] as using bottle caps."

The idea is to use a bottle cap to pour a measured amount of fertilizer right next to each plant. It takes more work than simply throwing handfuls of fertilizer across a field.

But Mr. Khosla says researchers taught this bottle cap method to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. They discovered that it was worth the extra effort if they could only afford a small amount of fertilizer.

RAJ KHOSLA: "There was a huge difference: more than double, in terms of productivity."

Of course, new technology is not always so cheap. But Mr. Khosla says farmers could form a cooperative or combine their resources to pay for new equipment. He and other researchers worked with a farmer in India to precision-level his irrigated⁹ wheat fields. That kept the fields from developing wet and dry areas that reduced productivity. The farmer also added better fertilizers and insect control.

As a result, he was able to grow almost three times as much wheat on the same amount of land. Mr. Khosla says with the extra money the farmer made, and a small loan, he bought his own precision leveler. And now, for a fee, he offers that as a service to his neighbors and other farmers.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I'm Jim Tedder¹⁰.

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Contributing: Steve Baragona

1 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 agronomist   

n.农学家

参考例句：

• The agronomist suggested growing rice on the dried river bed.那位农学家建议在干涸的河床上种水稻。
• She has elected to become an agronomist.她决心做一个农学家。

4 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

5 computes   

v.计算，估算( compute的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This article also computes STL model volume and research simply model complexity. 文章还评估了STL实体体积，对模型的复杂度进行了研究。 来自互联网
• This macro computes the length of the day, from sunrise to sunset. 把根据要求确定出来的日出日没间隔作为我们通常直觉上的一个白天。 来自互联网

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

8 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

9 irrigated   

[医]冲洗的

参考例句：

• They irrigated their crops with water from this river. 他们用这条小河里的水浇庄稼。
• A crop can be sown, weeded, irrigated, and fertilized uniformly. 一种作物可以均匀一致地进行播种，除草，灌溉和施肥。

10 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