VOA常速英语2017--科技为农业创收

Millions of smallholder farmers in South and Southeast Asia are attempting to diversify 1 beyond staple 2 crops to increase their incomes, nutrition, and resilience in response to climate change and shifting market demand. Although they are potentially significant producers of fresh vegetables and farmed fish, most smallholders lack access to technologies that would help them produce the quantities and quality needed to earn income sustainably. To address this, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, rolled out its new Feed the Future Asia Regional Innovative 3 Farmers Project at the Agriculture Innovation Summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh January 24th.

南亚和东南亚的很多小农正试图在主要作物的基础上让作物种类多样化，以增加收入、提高营养、增强应对气候变化和多变市场需求的恢复力。虽然他们是大量新鲜蔬菜和养殖鱼类的潜在生产者，但大多数小农都接触不到技术，而技术才能助力生产出大量的优质产品，赚取稳定的收入。为了解决这一问题，美国国际开发署(USAID)在1月24日于孟加拉国首都达卡市举行的农业创新峰会上推出了一个亚洲区域创新农民的新项目，名为“保障未来粮食供给”。

Implemented 4 by Winrock International, the regional project will increase food security, reduce poverty, and improve environmental sustainability by facilitating agricultural innovation and technology diffusion 5 in several countries in Asia including Bangladesh.

该区域性项目由温洛克国际实施，将通过在孟加拉国在内的多个国家促进农业创新和技术推广来提升粮食安全、减少贫困、增强环境的可持续性。

To disseminate 6 agricultural knowledge and expertise 7 among the Asian countries, this new project will create challenge competitions to discover the most promising 8 technologies, support partnerships 9 and ultimately bring successful tools and practices to farmers in all stages of the supply chain – from productivity to marketing 10. The Honorable Additional Secretary of Bangladesh's Ministry 11 of Agriculture Musharaf Hossain and USAID Office of Economic Growth Director Matt Curtis spoke 12 at the event.

为了达到在亚洲各国传播农业知识和专业知识的目的，这个新项目将创造挑战竞技赛，发掘出最有希望的技术、支持合伙经营并最终为从生产到推广的供应链中各个环节的农民带来有效的工具和实践。孟加拉国农业部名誉秘书穆沙拉夫(Musharaf Hossain)和和美国国际开发署经济增长办公室主任马特(Matt Curtis)在活动上发言。

USAID also announced the winners of the Tech4Farmers Challenge, the very first challenge competition held under the Asia Regional Innovative Farmers Project that sought ways to improve the agricultural productivity and income of small hold farmers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal.

美国国际开发署还公布了Tech4Farmers挑战赛的获胜者，这次挑战赛也是亚洲区域创新农民项目举办的第一次挑战赛，该项目的布姆是寻找提升农业产量，提高孟加拉国、柬埔寨、缅甸、尼泊尔的小农收入。

The winners were the e-Fishery's Smart Fish Feeder, an Indonesia-based technology that combines automatic feeding with sensors 13 and algorithms that sense fish's appetite and adjust the amount of feed to improve efficiency, and the Innovative Spirulina Production, a system created by EnerGaia in Thailand that maximizes algae 14 production with minimal 15 resources, reducing potential for contamination in its bioreactor design and allows spirulina production nearly anywhere. Unlike many challenges, the Tech4Farmers Innovation Challenge did not offer a cash prize, but provided winners the information, business services and access to networks to help expand innovative solutions into new markets in low-income countries.

获奖者分别是印度科技公司e-Fishery和泰国的EnerGaia公司：前者将自动喂食与传感器、算法结合起来，可以感知鱼类的胃口，并据此调节喂食量，提升效率；后者发明了螺旋藻创新生产系统，该系统可利用矿物资源将藻类产量最大化，降低生物反应器污染的可能性，让螺旋藻生产随处可行。Tech4Farmers创新挑战赛不同于其他赛事，它并不提供现金奖励，而是为获胜者提供信息、商业服务、网络接入，帮助获胜者在低收入国家扩大增加新市场的创新方案。

The U.S. Government, through USAID, has provided more than $6 billion in development assistance to Bangladesh since 1971. The U.S. is proud to work with Bangladesh promote prosperity for the people of the U.S., Bangladesh, and the Asia region.

自1971年以来，美国政府已通过美国国际开发署提供了60多亿美元的发展援助资金。美国很自豪能与孟加拉国一道为美国、孟加拉国和亚洲地区的人民促进繁荣。