(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
Today, we take you to a small banana plantation near Kampala. The trees are healthy and green, but Andrew Kiggundu does not like what he sees.
"The disease on the leaves you see right now is not the wilt, it is a different disease called black sigatoka. It is just killing off the leaves and causing significant yield loss. This is a big problem, although of course not as much as the wilt, because the wilt just destroys the whole plant."
A banana leaf affected with black sigatoka at the National Agricultural Research Organization, Uganda, Sept. 13, 2013. (Hilary Heuler/VOA)
Andrew Kiggundu works with the National Agricultural Research Organization, also known as NARO. The Ugandan government agency is developing genetically engineer bananas. The new plants are meant to resist black sigatoka and banana bacterial wilt, which has been destroying a large amounts of the country's banana crop.
Uganda is the world's top consumer of bananas. NARO Research Director Wilberforce Tushemereirwe says this is why it is so important to produce healthy plants.
"The disease keeps on moving around wiping out garden after garden, so you will go to areas where you find they have changed from banana to annual crops. That has already introduced food insecurity, because they are not used to handling annual crops."
The central African nation already permits testing of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would permit the development and distribution of such organisms through out the country. But some activists say genetically modified organisms would be dangerous to human health and the environment.
Giregon Olupot is a soil biophysicist at Makerere University in Kampala.
"There are a range of options that risk to be wiped [out], just by this technology. With bananas, tissue culture has worked well to engineer healthy plants. You then take these plants to a clean garden and maintain field hygiene. Why are we not giving emphasis to that technology?"
Most genetically modified seeds are patented, this means farmers must purchase them after each planting. Mr Olupot says, this might be possible for profitable farmers, but smaller farmers depend on their own seeds. In his opinion, selling genetically modified seeds to small farmers could trap them.
"If you are to go commercial, it has to be on a large scale. Now the farmers we are talking about, on average, have 0.4 hectares of land. It is simply not suitable for our farmers."
A public institution is developing Uganda's genetically modified bananas. NARO says no patent laws will restrict their use. But Mr Olupot says this would probably not be true with genetically modified crops introduced to Uganda in the future. Mr Kiggundu says opponents of genetically modified plans have been strong in their criticisms. He says many farmers are now afraid of GMOs.
The Ugandan parliament is expected to pass the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill before the end of the year.
And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English.
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.wilt n. v.枯萎；憔悴；衰弱
The roses wilted the next day.
这些玫瑰花第二天就枯萎了。
2.genetically adv. 从遗传学角度；从基因方面
A person's health is often genetically predetermined.
人的体质通常是由遗传决定的。
3.hygiene n. 卫生；卫生学；保健法
Hygiene has evolved into preventive medicine.
卫生学已逐渐发展成为预防医学。
4.patent vt. 授予专利；取得…的专利权
The invention has been patented by the university.
那项发明已经由那所大学获取了专利。
内容解析
1.The disease keeps on moving around wiping out garden after garden, so you will go to areas where you find they have changed from banana to annual crops.
wipe out 消灭，彻底摧毁；垮台；（滑雪等时的）翻倒；封闭
Experts say if the island is not protected, the spill could wipe out the gulf's turtle population.
专家们说如果那座小岛得不到保护，此次泄露有可能使该海湾地区的海龟灭绝。
She got angry and wiped out her name on the blackboard.
她生气了，于是就把黑板上她的名字擦掉了。
2.Why are we not giving emphasis to that technology?
give emphasis to 强调（着重）
The Court also gave considerable emphasis to the procedural deficiencies in the Act.
法院也相当重视该法在程序方面的欠缺。
But, delegates are divided as to how much emphasis to give to the issue.
但是代表们对给予该问题多少的重要程度意见不一。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
今天带你去坎帕拉附近的小香蕉种植园，这里的香蕉树绿油油的，很健康，但安德鲁·基冈度并不喜欢所见到的一切。
“现在树叶上看到的疾病并不是枯萎病，是一种名叫香蕉叶斑病的疾病。它能导致叶子死亡，造成大量减产。这是个大问题，尽管不像枯萎病那么严重，因为枯萎病能毁掉整个植株。”
安德鲁·基冈度在乌干达国家农业研究组织(NARO)工作，该政府机构正开发转基因香蕉，这种新作物是为了对抗香蕉叶斑病和香蕉细菌性枯萎病，这两种疾病已毁掉了该国的大片香蕉作物。
乌干达是全世界最大的香蕉消费国，NARO研究主任Wilberforce Tushemereirwe说这就是生产健康作物很重要的原因。
“这种疾病能在香蕉园之间蔓延，所以去那里你能看到这种疾病已从香蕉蔓延到一年生作物，这已经造成粮食安全问题了，因为人们还不会对付一年生作物的这种疾病。”
这个中非国家已经允许进行转基因生物实验，立法者正考虑一项允许在全国开发和推广这种生物的法案。但有活动人士称转基因生物对人类健康和环境有害。
Giregon Olupot是坎帕拉市马凯雷雷大学的一位土壤生物学家。
“转基因技术可以消除掉很多风险，对香蕉来说，植物组织培养在改造健康植株基因方面效果很好。可以将这些植株带到无疾病的香蕉园，保持田间卫生。为什么不重视这项技术呢？”
大多数转基因种子都有专利权，因此农民们每次种植后都必须再次购买。Olupot说这对效益好的农民来说没问题，但小农户依靠自己的种子。因此在他看来，出售转基因种子会使小农户陷入困境。
“要进行商业化，就必须实行规模化。我们现在谈论的农民平均有0.4公顷土地，所以商业化不适合这些农民。”
一家公共机构正开发乌干达的转基因香蕉，NARO说没有专利法会限制其使用。但Olupot说未来将转基因作物引入乌干达是不可能的，基冈度说，转基因计划的反对者一直表示强烈批评，他说很多农民现在害怕转基因作物。
乌干达议会有望在年底前通过生物技术和生物安全法案。
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
