AGRICULTURE REPORT - Improving on an Ancient Way to Harvest

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Improving on an Ancient Way to Harvest Rainwater
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, August 30, 2005

I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

A few months ago, we talked about a system to harvest rainwater. The water travels from the roofs of buildings through pipes into a storage tank. Now we describe another system to collect rainwater, this time between mountains.

Jessours in Tunisia 
Earth dams capture¹ the water for fields planted on a valley floor. It is an ancient idea, known as a jessour. But scientists and farmers have developed ways to improve on tradition.

A jessour starts with an earth dam high up in the valley. The dam captures² rain, and the water pours over a spillway into a field below. Farther³ down the valley, another earth dam separates the first field from the next. This system of fields, bordered by dams, continues all the way down the valley.

Heavy rains, however, can damage the dams. Also, rocks and soil washed downhill can fill spillways and cause the fields to flood.

Farmers in Tunisia have used jessours since ancient times. The average rainfall in most of the country is less than two hundred millimeters⁴ per year. UNESCO has supported studies of efforts to improve jessours in Tunisia. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

It says a solution to weak dams made of earth is to build dams out of concrete for greater strength. Another measure to improve jessours is known as a "buried stone pocket." This is what some farmers do:

First, they dig a planting area. They lay stones in a small circle about forty centimeters below the surface. They leave an opening in the center. The farmers then stand a plastic pipe between the stones and cover the stones with soil.

Next, they plant a young tree in the center. They give the tree water through the pipe. That way, the water goes directly to the roots.

Farmers in Tunisia have traditionally used jessours to grow olive⁵, fig⁶ and palm trees. But some farmers have started to grow other kinds of fruits and vegetables. Demand has increased from cities and popular holiday areas. UNESCO says some farmers now have more than ten kinds of fruit trees in their fields.

Farmers have found creative ways to grow apples, pears, peaches, almonds and other crops in jessours. These new ideas have helped make this labor-intensive method of farming more worth the effort.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 capture   

vt.捕获，俘获；占领，夺得；n.抓住，捕获

参考例句：

• The company is out to capture the European market.这家公司希望占据欧洲市场。
• With the capture of the escaped tiger,everyone felt relieved.逃出来的老虎被捕获后，大家都松了一口气。

2 captures   

俘获( capture的第三人称单数 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• King Arthur himself captures the beast and cuts off its head. 亚瑟王亲自捉住怪物，并砍下它的头。
• His book captures exactly the ethos of Elizabethan England. 他的书准确地描绘了英国伊丽莎白时代的风土人情。

3 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。

4 millimeters   

n.毫米( millimeter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The creature is a tiny centipede, just 10 millimeters long. 那个生物是一只很小的蜈蚣，只有10毫米长。 来自辞典例句
• This machine part was built to a tolerance of 0.01 millimeters. 这一机器部件的制造公差是0.01毫米。 来自辞典例句

5 olive   

n.橄榄，橄榄树，橄榄色；adj.黄绿色的，黄褐色的，橄榄色的

参考例句：

• Have you eaten a kind of fruit called olive?你吃过橄榄这种水果吗？
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace.她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。

6 fig   

n.无花果(树)

参考例句：

• The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果，又挑了一个。
• You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。