VOA慢速英語:Growing Controversy Over GMO Bananas in Uganda

07 October, 2013

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 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.

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報道。

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.

今天我們帶你到坎帕拉附近的一個小香蕉園。這些健康的香蕉樹一片翠綠，但安德魯·基岡度(Andrew Kiggundu)對他看到的卻不滿意。

"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."

他說，“你現(xiàn)在看到的葉子所患的病不是香蕉枯萎病，它是一種不同的疾病，被稱為香蕉葉斑病。它正在殺死香蕉葉子，并造成重大的產(chǎn)量損失。這是一個大問題，雖然其危害尚不及香蕉枯萎病，因為香蕉枯萎病會破壞整顆植株。”

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.

基岡度就職于烏干達國家農(nóng)業(yè)研究組織(簡稱NARO)。這家烏干達政府機構(gòu)正在開發(fā)轉(zhuǎn)基因香蕉。這種新作物是為了對抗香蕉葉斑病和香蕉細菌性枯萎病，這兩種病害已經(jīng)摧毀了烏干達大量的香蕉作物。

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.

烏干達是全球最大的香蕉消費國。烏干達國家農(nóng)業(yè)研究組織的研究總監(jiān)Wilberforce Tushemereirwe表示，這就是生產(chǎn)健康作物如此重要的原因。

"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."

他說，“這種疾病四處肆掠，挨個消滅香蕉園，所以你在一些地方會發(fā)現(xiàn)，它們已經(jīng)從香蕉變成了一年生作物。這已經(jīng)引發(fā)了糧食不安全，因為它們不是用來對付一年生作物。”

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.

烏干達這種中非國家已經(jīng)允許轉(zhuǎn)基因生物實驗。立法者正在籌備一項允許這類生物在全國開發(fā)和擴散的議案。但一些活動人士表示，轉(zhuǎn)基因生物對人類和環(huán)境有害。

Giregon Olupot is a soil biophysicist at Makerere University in Kampala.

Giregon Olupot是坎帕拉市馬凱雷雷大學的一位土壤生物物理學家。

"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?"

他說，“通過這項技術(shù)可以消除很多類的風險。在香蕉方面，植物組織培養(yǎng)在改造健康植株基因方面效果很好。然后我們把這些植株移入無病害的香蕉園里并保持田間衛(wèi)生。為什么我們不重視這種技術(shù)?”

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.

大多數(shù)轉(zhuǎn)基因種子具有專利，這意味著農(nóng)民們每次播種后都要再次購買種子。Olupot先生說，這對效益好的農(nóng)民來說沒問題，但規(guī)模較小的農(nóng)民都依賴自己的種子。在他看來，銷售轉(zhuǎn)基因種子會使小農(nóng)戶陷入困境。

"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."

他說，“如果你要商業(yè)化就必須大規(guī)模。我們現(xiàn)在談?wù)摰倪@些農(nóng)民平均只有0.4公頃土地，所以它根本不適合我們這些農(nóng)民。”

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 future. Mr Kiggundu says opponents of genetically modified plans have been strong in their criticisms. He says many farmers are now afraid of GMOs.

一家公共機構(gòu)正在開發(fā)烏干達的轉(zhuǎn)基因香蕉。烏干達國家農(nóng)業(yè)研究組織表示，沒有專利法會限制它們的使用。但Olupot表示，這對未來引入到烏干達的轉(zhuǎn)基因作物來說是不可能的?；鶎认壬f，轉(zhuǎn)基因計劃反對者的批評聲一直很大。

The Ugandan parliament is expected to pass the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill before the end of the year.

烏干達議會有望在今年年底之前通過生物技術(shù)和生物安全法案。

And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English.

以上就是來自美國之音英語學習農(nóng)業(yè)報道的全部內(nèi)容。