VOA慢速英语 2007 0605a

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Sorghum¹ farmers in eastern Uganda, working with scientists, have tested some lower-cost ways to improve their soil. Little rain and poor soil fertility are problems in that area, as in other parts of southern Africa. Experts from the Kawanda Research Institute in Uganda and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the United States did the research.

They say much of the soil lacks enough phosphorus and nitrogen. But for many small farmers, the cost of treating the soil is more than they earn from their crops. 

 
 
So the researchers suggest five methods that could decrease costs and increase production of sorghum. Sorghum is an important food grain in southern Africa.

The methods involve soil fertility management as well as reduced tillage. Tilling is breaking up and turning the soil to prepare the ground for planting.

They say one way to renew the soil is to use a plant called mucuna. Mucuna is a herbaceous vegetable. Its seeds can be planted during the short rainy season. Then the land is free to be planted with sorghum during the best growing season.

Mucuna takes nitrogen from the air and places it in the soil, enriching² it. Professor Charles Wortmann, one of the Nebraska researchers, notes that the plants also reseed themselves.

Another method that the scientists suggest is to plant sorghum during one growing season, followed by cowpea the next.

Two other low-input ways to improve the soil involve using manure³ or nitrogen and phosphorus as fertilizer.

And the fifth way that the study found may improve sorghum production is to reduce crop tillage.

The researchers say the best methods for farmers depend on their individual needs and their resources. For example, using animal waste may be best for farms that have the animals to supply it. But on farms that cannot get fertilizer, the best solution may be the method of rotating⁴ sorghum with cowpea.

The researchers tested one hundred forty-two farms across three areas of eastern Uganda. The study took place from two thousand three to two thousand five. The findings have just appeared in Agronomy⁵ Journal. Professor Wortmann and other scientists are continuing their research.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

1 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

2 enriching   

使富有( enrich的现在分词 )； 使富裕； 充实； 使丰富

参考例句：

• It was a dark enriching influence she had not known before. 这是一种她从来未感受到的朦胧而又不断丰美的感化力量。
• His hopes of enriching me perished now. 他想让我做个富家子的打算，如今已经化为泡影了。

3 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

4 rotating   

ing. 转动

参考例句：

• It can be used on rotating machinery and under water. 它可以用于回转式机器，也可以在水下应用。
• So a separate rotating aerial is used for that purpose. 为此需要用一种单独的旋转天线。

5 agronomy   

n.农业经济学

参考例句：

• The science of agronomy helps farmers obtain larger and better crops.农业经济学帮助农民获得更多更好的农作物。
• Heavy agronomy clique and Si Mi order of believe in nature.重农学派和斯密都信奉自然秩序。