新方法有助提高非洲土地的生产力
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2012-09-20 06:37 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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A Washington State University researcher and colleagues make a case in the journal Nature for a new type of agriculture that could restore the beleaguere(包围的) soils of Africa and help the continent feed itself in the coming decades. Their system, which they call "perenniation," mixes food crops with trees and perennial1(多年生的) plants, which live for two years or more. Thousands of farmers are already trying variations of perenniation, which reduces the need for artificial inputs2 while improving soil and in some cases dramatically increasing yields. One woman quadrupled her corn crop, letting her raise pigs and goats and sell surplus grain for essentials and her grandchildren's school fees.
 
John Reganold, a WSU soil scientist, wrote the article with Jerry Glover of the USAID Bureau for Food Security and Cindy Cox of the International Food Policy Research Institute. The article, "Plant perennials3 to save Africa's soils," appears in the Sept. 20 issue of Nature.
 
The authors argue that perenniation offers a powerful option as the world's growing population poses new challenges for people struggling to eat. Already, one-fourth of the world's undernourished population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, where nutrient-poor soils have yields that are one-tenth of the U.S. Midwest. Farmers often make these lands worse by adding conventional mineral fertilizers without organic inputs.
 
"Of the various factors needing urgent attention to increase agricultural productivity, scientists from the region have identified soil quality as a top priority," the researchers write. "We believe that perenniation should be used much more widely to help farmers to meet the challenge of improving soils while increasing food production."
 
Several efforts to increase perenniation are already underway, including perennial grain research at WSU and millions of plantings across sub-Saharan Africa in the Trees for Food Security project. But the researchers argue for elevating perenniation research to the levels of support given mineral fertilizers and seed development.
 
The cost could run to tens of millions of dollars.
 
"Yet such numbers pale in comparison to the losses of nitrogen, phosphorus(磷) and potassium(钾) from sub-Saharan farm fields each year," the researchers say. Such losses, they add, are the equivalent of billions of dollars of fertilizer.

 



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1 perennial i3bz7     
adj.终年的;长久的
参考例句:
  • I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
  • There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。
2 inputs a8aff967e1649a1c82ea607c881e8091     
n.输入( input的名词复数 );投入;输入端;输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.(变量参数)。 来自互联网
  • Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一,保存以前步骤获得的inputs(变量参数值)到一个文件中去。 来自互联网
3 perennials dd1da7255ff0f94f2a84a6a489e75952     
n.多年生植物( perennial的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Name six perennials and six annuals suitable for indoor flower arrangement. 列出多年生及一年生花朵各六种,它们必须是适合插花的。 来自互联网
  • Herbage can be divided into three categories: annuals, biennials, and perennials. 草本植物可分成一年生、二年生和多年生。 来自互联网
TAG标签: plants Africa soils
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