VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Deadly Maize Disease Threatens Food Supplies in Kenya

 

Agriculture Report - Deadly Maize¹ Disease Threatens Food Supplies in Kenya

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Officials in Kenya are attempting to deal with a deadly disease attacking maize crops. Some Kenyan farmers say the disease has reduced crop production by as much as sixty percent.

Last September, farmers in Bomet reported that a disease was destroying their maize or corn. The disease is called “maize lethal² necrosis.” It makes the plant turn yellow and dry up. By January, researchers found that the disease was spreading across the country’s south and into central and eastern Kenya.

Paul Omanga is a crop production officer with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. He says a study in July found that maize lethal necrosis had affected³ more than sixty-four thousand hectares. Up to eighty percent of the crop was ruined. The FAO official warned that if the disease is not controlled, it would have a major effect on maize production in Kenya.

Muo Kasina is a researcher with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. He is working with others to fight the disease. But he says there is no known way to treat it.

KASINA: “The problem is we do not have the experience at all with this disease in Kenya. So for me, I really have no idea at all what I expect to see in the future.”

Researchers are investigating whether maize lethal necrosis is spread by insects or in seeds. When they know that, they may be better able to fight it.

The FAO’s Paul Omanga says he and others are telling farmers about the importance of crop rotation⁴. But he says farmers must take more extreme action if they suspect the disease has infected their crops.

PAUL OMANGA: “Another one is ensuring that, in affected fields, you destroy all the plants. You can even burn them or make fodder⁵ for livestock⁶. The stems, the leaves, you make fodder for livestock. But you should not leave those affected plants to stay in the field because the virus will remain in that to infect another crop.”

Paul Omanga says he is concerned about Kenya’s food stability.

OMANGA: “This is causing some concern because maize is the staple⁷ food and any threat to maize production is a threat to food security in Kenya.”

America’s Agency for International Development says the poorest Kenyans spend twenty-eight percent of what they earn on maize.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. You can find links to three recent FAO reports about food security in Africa on our website, www.voanews.cn. I’m Bob Doughty⁸.

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Contributing: Jill Craig

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 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

5 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

6 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

7 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

8 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。