VOA常速英语2013--印度农民对抗污染 - 一次一树

 

Indian Farmers Fighting Pollution One Tree at a Time 印度农民对抗污染 - 一次一树

INDRI, HARYANA, INDIA — To anyone else, the patches of poplar and eucalyptus¹ trees that dot the flat, green landscape of Indri are just added greenery.

印度，哈里亚纳邦，伊恩德里镇—对于伊恩德里镇上的其他人来说，这一片片点缀在平坦土地上的绿色白杨和桉树仅仅是增加了小镇的绿化。

But to farmer Chaudhry Sukhvir Singh, the trees are a fixed² deposit³.

但是对于Chaudhry Sukhvir Singh（乔杜里·苏格瑞·辛格）来说，这些树是一笔定期存款。

"The biggest benefit is that I can plant these trees and then earn other income on the side. It’s like money being put in the bank. Anytime I need money for anything, I can cut these down and get my work done," Singh said as he removed weeds near a young sapling.

“最大的好处是我可以种这些树，进而赚得额外收入。这就像存在银行里的钱。每次当我需要钱的时候，我就可以砍倒它们卖了，然后完成我要做的事情。” 乔杜里边说边拔掉一棵小树苗旁边的野草。

In a few years, the 500 poplar trees planted on Singh’s property in the northern state of Haryana will eventually earn him $15,000 when they are mature, cut down and sold to local plywood factories.

在几年之内，种在乔杜里耕种的田地--位于哈里亚纳邦北部--里的这500棵白杨树就能长成，然后他就能砍到它们并卖给当地胶合板工厂，最终会给他带来15,000美元的收入。

The farmer is among several hundred who receive support and guidance from the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Center. The organization promotes sustainable agriculture by encouraging farmers to plant trees that produce fruit, timber⁴, biodiesel and rubber.

乔杜里是接受设在内罗毕的世界农林业中心支持和指导的数百农民种中一个。该组织通过鼓励农民种植可产水果、木材、生物油和橡胶的树木来促进农业可持续发展。

In the 200-kilometer radius⁵ that stretches across Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh states, some 750,000 hectares of land are being used for agroforestry projects, with trees planted right along side crops such as rice. The center hopes to have 12 to 15 million hectares of land across India under agroforestry systems in the next decade.

在横跨哈里亚纳邦、阿坎德邦、北方邦方圆200公里的地方，大概750,000公顷的土地被用来实施农林业中心的农林混种项目—把树种在农作物比如水稻的旁边。农林中心希望在下个十年内，能在印度120-150万公顷的土地上实施其农林混种项目。

World Agroforestry Center Director General Tony Simons said agroforestry was key in the South Asian country, which only has about 20 percent forest cover.

世界农林业中心主任托尼西蒙表示，在只有20%植被覆盖的这个南亚国家，农林混种是其发展的关键。

"Here we have a country with 16 percent of the world’s population, 20 percent of the world’s livestock⁶ on only two percent of the world’s land and using four percent of the world’s fresh water, so we have got a problem there of sustainability," said Simons.

西蒙说：“这个国家拥有占世界16%的人口，占世界20%的牲畜，却只有占世界2%的土地和4%的淡水资源，所以我们的可持续发展遇到了问题。”

In India, like many other countries, more and more forests and even agricultural land are being lost to development. 

在印度，像其他很多国家一样，越来越多的森林和农业用地正在流失。

"Trees are being cut, forests are being removed and the land is becoming barren⁷.  The target in India, for example, was that there should be 33 percent vegetation⁸ cover on the land," said World Agroforestry Center South Asia Director Virender Pal⁹ Singh. 

世界农林业中心南亚区主任Virender Pal Singh（维纶德·帕尔·辛格）说：“在这片土地上，树木被砍伐，森林被破坏，土地变得越来越贫瘠。印度应该设定一个如33%的土地覆盖植被的目标。”

He added, "there are states like Punjab and Haryana where the forest land is not 33 percent so how are we going to meet it?  That can be met only when you bring the trees on the farm."

他还说：“在印度的旁遮普邦和哈里亚纳邦这样的地区，林地占比都不到33%，那我们如何去实现这个目标呢？只能依靠农林混种来实现这个目标。”

With agroforestry, farmers plant trees without affecting the growth of crops, such as wheat and sugarcane. Singh said the plants actually benefitted from improved soil fertility and water retention¹⁰.

在农林中心的帮助下，农民们在农田中种树，却并不影响农作物，比如小麦和甘蔗的生长。乔杜里·苏格瑞·辛格告诉大家，事实上由于种树增加了土壤肥力，保持了土壤水分，种树不仅不影响农作物的生长，还使农作物从中受益。

"We are getting stable productivity¹¹, a cleaner environment, increasing income, so our feeling in the country is that agroforestry is probably the only way for meeting the economic and livelihood¹² challenges, as well as addressing the challenges of climate change," he said.

乔杜里还说：“我们现在的产量稳定，环境更加清洁，收入逐步增加，所以我们感觉，农林业中心的农林混种项目可能是实现国内经济发展，改善民生，以及应对气候变化的唯一途径。”

On a hot summer day like this one, farmer Chaudhry Rajender Singh feels the benefits of the microclimate his trees help create - as a cool breeze cuts through the humid air.

在这样一个炎热的夏日里，农夫Chaudhry Rajender Singh（乔杜里·拉金德·辛格）感受到了他种的树所创造的微气候的好处—一股凉风穿过这湿热的空气，扑面而来。

"There are two benefits. Pollution is less. A few days ago it was so hot, I just came and stood here [under the trees].  And we also get income from them," he said.

他说，“种树有两个好处。一是污染减少了，几天前天气酷热难耐；我来到这里站在树下避暑。同时我们可以增加收入。

The World Agroforestry Center says 64 percent of India’s timber requirement is currently¹³ being met from agroforestry systems and not from forests. The organization is working with countries in Africa and Southeast Asia in hopes they will follow suit. 

世界农林业中心：印度64%的木材需求目前是靠农林中心的农林混种项目供应的，而非来自自然森林。该组织正在与非洲和东南亚国家合作，希望他们也能像印度这样接受农林混种这个项目。

1 eucalyptus   

n.桉树，桉属植物

参考例句：

• Eucalyptus oil is good for easing muscular aches and pains.桉树油可以很好地缓解肌肉的疼痛。
• The birds rustled in the eucalyptus trees.鸟在桉树弄出沙沙的响声。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 deposit   

n.定金，存款，矿藏；vt.使沉淀，寄存，储蓄

参考例句：

• There is too much deposit in a bottle of wine.酒瓶里有太多的沉淀物。
• The hotel requires a deposit for all advance bookings.旅馆规定凡预订房间都要先付订金。

4 timber   

n.木材，原木，大木料，栋木

参考例句：

• These trees need more time to grow into useful timber.这些树不够年头，还没成材呢。
• The timber is graded according to its thickness.木材按厚度分级。

5 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

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 barren   

adj.贫瘠的，不（生）育的，没有结果的

参考例句：

• The place used to be a stretch of barren land.早先这里是一片不毛之地。
• The barren land could produce little food.那贫瘠的土地几乎不长庄稼。

8 vegetation   

n.植物，草木，（植物）生长

参考例句：

• As we drove towards the desert,the vegetation became sparse.我们驱车前往沙漠，沿途的草木渐渐变得稀疏。
• The earth bore a thick green mantle of vegetation.大地覆盖着一层厚厚的绿色植物。

9 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

10 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

11 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。

12 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

13 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。