VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - China Looks to Ukraine for Food

 

Agriculture Report - China Looks to Ukraine for Food

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

America is the world’s largest food exporter. But the worst drought in half a century is hitting corn and wheat harvests. The drought across the central United States adds to concerns about world food supplies and prices in the coming years.

Experts say by twenty-fifty, the world will have to produce at least sixty percent more food to feed a population growing bigger and richer. China, a major food importer, is looking to producers around the world to guarantee future food supplies.

China has invested in food production in Australia and New Zealand. A new source of supply is Ukraine. Ukraine was known as the breadbasket of Europe because of rich corn and wheat harvests a century ago.

Galyna Kovtok is chief executive¹ of Ukraine’s largest agricultural business, ULF. She predicts that within a few months her company will be approved to export corn to China. That will make Ukraine the first country outside the Americas to do so.

ULF will soon have almost two million tons of elevator storage capacity as it prepares for the Chinese market. Chinese money is financing² the building of six grain elevators. But the company's equipment is largely American, including half-million-dollar John Deere combines to harvest wheat.

ULF's grain production per hectare is now halfway³ between Ukrainian averages and the high yields of the American Midwest. But farming depends on the weather. Across the Black Sea region -- in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan -- drought this year is pushing harvests down by fifteen to twenty percent.

Traditionally, the Black Sea region is the main source of wheat for North Africa and the Middle East. But this year, on the supply side, Russia may have to suspend exports. And, on the demand side, Africa and the Middle East are now competing with China.

At the same time, a new report says large parts of Asia may face long periods of severe drought within ten years. The report is from the British-based Center for Low Carbon Futures⁴, a network of universities. It says northern China, India, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Pakistan will be especially hard hit. It says other parts of Asia are likely to face longer and wetter monsoon⁵ seasons because of climate change.

Andrew McConville works for the agricultural technology company Syngenta. He says a lack of new investment in technology to help farmers improve productivity⁶ has had an effect.

ANDREW McCONVILLE: "You really start to see, if you like, all of those things come together, laid over the top of very high prices as well, so you almost had a perfect storm of factors coming together.”

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I'm Karen Leggett.

1 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

2 financing   

n.筹措资金

参考例句：

• The main source of our outside financing is bank loan. 我们向外筹措资金的主要渠道是银行贷款。
• They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing. 他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。

3 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

4 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

5 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

6 productivity   

n.生产力，生产率，多产

参考例句：

• Farmers are introducing in novations which increase the productivity.农民们正引进提高生产力的新方法。
• The workers try to put up productivity.工人设法提高生产率。