Qatar climate makes farming difficult with extreme heat, little freshwater and a high salt content in the desert soil.
卡塔尔的高温气候、沙漠缺水且含盐量高，这些使得务农非常困难。
In 2012, the family-owned company Agrico started raising organic vegetables and greenhouses and recently began growing mushrooms.
2012年，这家名为“Agrico”的家族企业开始种植有机蔬菜并搭建大棚，最近还开始种植蘑菇。
On this 10,000 square meter farm, Agrico compost is generating a ton of mushrooms each day.
在这个一万平方米的农场，“Agrico”通过堆肥每天能成产一吨蘑菇。
The soil is composed of hay, agricultural gypsum , bird manure that are mixed together, fermented and pasteurized.
这种土壤含有许多干草、农业用石膏以及鸟粪，之后将它们混合在一起，经过发酵和巴氏消毒。
It is then ready to be used in the rooms.
之后就可以在大棚中使用了。
Soil preparation takes four weeks. Then we need another four weeks for mushrooms to grow.
土壤的准备需要耗费四周时间，蘑菇的生长也需要四周时间。
The mushrooms are grown in temperature-controlled rooms at 18 degrees celsius.
这些蘑菇生长在恒温18摄氏度的温室里。
The cooling cost is an obstacle in some countries.
在一些国家，冷却成本是个很大的问题。

In Gulf countries, we have an advantage because energy is relatively cheap.
但在海湾国家我们有自己的优势，就是能源相对便宜。
However, farms in Gulf countries have additional costs due to importing most of the material they need.
然而，海湾国家的农场由于要进口所需材料，所以增添了额外成本。
Agrico plans to increase its mushroom production to between three and four times.
“Agrico”计划将蘑菇的产量增加3-4倍。
We have a market share of about 30 percent of the local mushroom market.
我们在本地蘑菇市场份额大约在30%。
We usually export 20 percent of our production to neighboring countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
有20%要出口到邻国，比如巴林和沙特阿拉伯。
Qatar hopes to feed itself by converting semi-desert areas into agricultural land.
卡塔尔希望将半沙漠地区转变为农业用地，以此来自给自足。
Deborah Block, VOA News, Washington
黛博拉·布洛克为您从华盛顿带来的报道。