VOA慢速英語:Plant Clinics Taking Root in East Africa

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語農業(yè)報道。

Crop disease continues to be a problem for farmers everywhere. The non-profit Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International(CABI) says pests and diseases destroy up to 40 percent of the food grown worldwide.

農作物病害仍然是世界各地農民面臨的一大難題。非盈利性的國際農業(yè)和生物科學中心表示，病蟲害破壞了全球范圍內種植的40%以上的食物。

The center based in Britain is trying to change that with a crop protection program, the program is called Plantwise. In the past three years, Plantwise has trained almost one thousand so-called plant doctors in 24 countries, one of those countries is Uganda.

這家總部設在英國的科學中心正試圖通過一個被稱為Plantwise的農作物保護項目改變這一現(xiàn)狀。在過去三年，Plantwise項目已經在24個國家培養(yǎng)了近千名所謂的農作物醫(yī)生，烏干達就是這些國家之一。

Recently, plant doctor Daniel Lyazi set up a table under a small tent, join market day in Mukono, the village is about 15 kilometers from Kampala, the capital.

近日，農作物醫(yī)生Daniel Lyazi在一個小帳篷下擺了張桌子，參加Mukono村的趕集日。該村距離首都坎帕拉約為15公里。

People brought samples of diseased plants to his clinic. One farmer brought cabbage covered in slime. Nothing can be done to save his cabbages this year, but Daniel Lyazi's advice may save the next season's crop.

人們帶著病株樣本來到他的診所。一位農民帶著被粘液覆蓋的白菜。今年救不了他的白菜了，但Daniel Lyazi的建議可能會挽救下一季的作物。

"So he's telling me there's a small caterpillar which eats [the cabbages] starting from the youngest leaf. He's told me that the whole garden has been attacked and affected by this caterpillar. So according to me, I know that it's a diamondback moth."

他說，“他告訴我，有一種小毛蟲從最嫩的葉子開始吃白菜，整個菜園都受到了這種毛蟲的侵襲和影響。據我所知，這是菜蛾。”

The farmer has been using an insecticide but Mr Lyazi says the chemical is the wrong one.

這位農民一直在用一種殺蟲劑，但Lyazi先生告訴他用錯農藥了。

"It's tolerant - it doesn't kill the diamondback moth caterpillar. So I'm recommending him to use another insecticide called Fenkill, and in another planting season he should plant with onions. Onions can repel (the caterpillar) and he can get income."

“它不能消滅這種菜蛾毛蟲。所以我建議他使用另一種被稱為Fenkill的殺蟲劑。到了下個種植季，他應該和洋蔥間種。洋蔥可以擊退這種毛蟲，他就能夠賺到錢。”

He advises the farmer to plant onions between the rows of cabbages as an additional measure of protection. The clinic lasts about three hours, in that time Daniel Lyazi advises about 20 farmers. The clinic takes place twice-a-month, it started last year.

他建議這位農民在白菜的菜壟之間種植洋蔥，作為一種額外的防護措施。該診所持續(xù)大約三個小時，在這段時間里，Daniel Lyazi為大約20位農民提供了建議。該診所始于去年，每月開設兩次。

The Plantwise program says there are now about 90 of these clinics in Uganda, this year donors spent close to $300,000 training plant doctors and expanding the system in the country.

Plantwise項目表示，烏干達目前有大約90家這種診所，今年捐助者花了近30萬美元培訓農作物醫(yī)生，并在該國擴大該系統(tǒng)的規(guī)模。

Joseph Mulema coordinates the Plantwise program in Uganda and Zambia. He argues that plant clinics are a far more effective way to get advice to farmers than the traditional model. In the traditional model, agricultural extension workers visit farms.

約瑟夫·穆萊馬(Joseph Mulema)負責協(xié)調烏干達和贊比亞的Plantwise項目。他認為農作物診所在向農民提供建議方面比傳統(tǒng)模式更為有效。在傳統(tǒng)模式中，農業(yè)推廣人員下到農場。

"Plant clinics can help so many farmers in a very short time. In fact, more farmers are seen in a plant clinic session, if good mobilization is done, than actually an extension officer can look at in an entire month."

他說，“農作物診所可以在很短時間內幫助這么多農民。事實上如果動員得好，農作物診所比農業(yè)推廣人員一個月接幫助的農民還多。”

Robert Karyeija is a crop protection officer for the government. He says training plant doctors has been very important, this is because even though there were thousands of agricultural extension workers, they just didn't know enough.

Robert Karyeija是政府的一位農作物保護官員。他說，培訓農作物醫(yī)生一直非常重要，這是因為即使有數(shù)千名農技推廣人員，他們也所知有限。”

"They were there. But the problem [was] they would be general agriculturalists who knew agronomy but didn't know much about pests and diseases."

他說，“他們一直都在。但問題是，他們是普通農學家，懂得農學，但對病蟲害不太懂。”

Since 2010, The Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International has set up Plantwise clinics in 12 African countries - nine of them in East Africa and three in West Africa.

自2010年以來，國際農業(yè)和生物科學中心已經在12個非洲國家設立了Plantwise診所，其中9個國家在東非，3個在西非。