（本文的英語(yǔ)源文本來(lái)自于51VOA，譯文為本人原創(chuàng)，歡迎交流指正）
Back in 1966, a farmer named Nekkanti Subha Rao
planted a new?variety?of rice in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
回望1966年，位于印度東南的安德哈拉邦，一名叫作內(nèi)坎提·撒卜勞的農(nóng)民種下了一種新品水稻。
The rice plant is called IR8. It was the creation of scientists at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.
這款新水稻被命名為IR8，是由位于菲律賓的國(guó)際水稻研究學(xué)會(huì)的科學(xué)家們改良而成。
Scientists created the IR8 variety by combining a tall rice plant from Indonesia and a shorter version from China.
科學(xué)家們將一種產(chǎn)自印尼的高桿水稻與產(chǎn)自中國(guó)的一種矮桿水稻雜交，從而研發(fā)出了IR8。
IR8 was the world's first highly productive rice. Itis credited with having prevented famines and providing food for millions ofpeople.
IR8是世界上第一種高產(chǎn)水稻。人們相信它可以防治饑荒，為數(shù)百萬(wàn)人口提供糧食。
Agricultural experts say IR8 rice is partly?responsible for the Green Revolution, which began in the 1940s and continued?through the 1960s. During this period, farmers increased their use of man-made?fertilizers and?pesticides, and irrigation systems to water crops. Food production sharply increased and helped prevent widespread hunger.
農(nóng)業(yè)學(xué)家認(rèn)為IR8水稻的成功，部分得益于起始于20世紀(jì)40年代至60年代的“綠色革命”。在此期間，農(nóng)民們加大了人工合成化肥和殺蟲劑的使用量，并為種植水田農(nóng)作物興建了大量的水利設(shè)施。糧食產(chǎn)量劇增從而防止了大范圍的饑荒擴(kuò)散。
India and the International Rice Research Institute have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of IR8 rice, which became known as "miracle rice."
印度和國(guó)際水稻學(xué)會(huì)慶祝IR8水稻研制成功50周年，IR8水稻也被稱為“神奇水稻”。
Farmer Rao, now 80 years old, remembers his surprise when he harvested a shocking 7.5 tons of rice on every hectare.
已經(jīng)80歲高齡的農(nóng)民——?jiǎng)冢匀挥浀卯?dāng)他收獲了令人震驚的每公頃7.5噸水稻時(shí)的驚喜。
"Never before," he said. "Every farmer feeling very, very, very happy, happy. 100 percent success."
“聞所未聞，”他說(shuō)。“每一位農(nóng)民都非常、非常、非常的開心。這是百分一百的成功?！?/p>
Many Asian countries struggled with food shortages in the 1960s and 1970s. IR8 and other varieties that followed helped increase rice production in Asia by 200 percent. The increase helped prevent widespread hunger.
在20世紀(jì)60至70年代，許多亞洲國(guó)家掙扎在溫飽線上。IR8和后續(xù)類型的水稻幫助亞洲的糧食產(chǎn)量翻了兩番。糧食的增產(chǎn)防止了大面積的饑荒。
"It?transformed?agriculture," said Dr. Nafees Meah, the institute's representative for South Asia. He said the Green Revolution prevented the food crises that happened in those years. "It saved millions of lives."
該學(xué)會(huì)的代表拉菲斯·麥阿博士發(fā)言稱：“這改變了農(nóng)業(yè)”。他說(shuō)，綠色革命在那幾年防止了糧食危機(jī)的發(fā)生?！斑@挽救了成千上萬(wàn)人的生命?！?/p>
After India,IR8 rice was planted in other Asian countries, such as the Philippines,Vietnam and Cambodia,where rice is the main food for most people.
繼印度之后，在其他幾個(gè)以水稻作為多數(shù)人口的主主食的國(guó)家也開始種植IR8水稻，例如越南和柬埔寨。
Agriculture experts say that the plant's shorter length made IR8 rice stronger and less likely to fail before harvest time. And,it took less time to grow compared to local rice. So, farmers could plant more than one crop on the same land.
農(nóng)業(yè)專家稱，IR8水稻的枝桿越短，那它在收獲之前抗倒伏的能力就越強(qiáng)。并且，對(duì)比當(dāng)?shù)氐脑綢R8的成熟期更短。所以，農(nóng)民們可以在同一塊土地上種植2種以上的作物。
Recalling the Green Revolution
重啟綠色革命
Even with the rise in food production, the Green Revolution also led to some long-term troubles.
隨著糧食產(chǎn)量的提高，綠色革命也引發(fā)了一些長(zhǎng)期的困境。
As The New York Times reported, crops such as IR8 rice required heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
據(jù)紐約時(shí)代周刊報(bào)道，如IR8等類型的作物需要大量使用農(nóng)藥和化肥。
This method of agriculture left behind chemical?pollution, noted U.S. News & World Report magazine. It also used up a lot?of soil nutrients, and eventually led to soil?depletion. So, farmers needed more and more fertilizer, according to National Public Radio (NPR).
美國(guó)《新聞與世界報(bào)告》雜志指出，這一農(nóng)業(yè)種植方法帶來(lái)了化學(xué)污染。按照國(guó)家公共電臺(tái)的說(shuō)法，這種方法壓榨了土地過(guò)多的養(yǎng)分，實(shí)際上導(dǎo)致了土壤消耗。如此一來(lái)，農(nóng)民們只能使用越來(lái)越多的化肥。
Crops like IR8 also needed more water than natural?rainfall offered, so farmers had toirrigatethe soil and build wells, NPR noted. In India, this caused the groundwater to sink as much as one meter each year.
國(guó)家公共電臺(tái)還指出，像IR8這樣的農(nóng)作物還需要供給除自然降水之外的額外水分，所以農(nóng)民們不得不灌溉土壤和挖掘水井。在印度，這使得地下水位每年以一米的速度下降。
This "package of practices" was costly,especially for poor farmers. Many of the farmers used credit to buy the products and services, but could not pay back their loans. So, they went in to debt, lost their land, and were forced to move to crowded cities to find work.After they left, richer farmers bought their land.
這“一攬子做法”花費(fèi)巨大，尤其是對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況不好的農(nóng)民。許多農(nóng)民使用信貸去買生產(chǎn)資料和服務(wù)，但（收獲）卻不足以償還他們的貸款。不得已，他們因?yàn)榍穫?，土地被收繳，被迫遷居到擁擠的城市尋找工作。他們離開之后，更富有的農(nóng)民買下了他們的土地。
There was very little work on the larger farms because farmers began turning to tractors and other modern equipment. So, human labor decreased, creating high rural unemployment in some areas.
在大型農(nóng)場(chǎng)里只有少量的工作，因?yàn)檗r(nóng)民們開始使用拖拉機(jī)和其他現(xiàn)代農(nóng)業(yè)設(shè)備。從而，人工驟減，在一些地區(qū)造成了農(nóng)村的高失業(yè)率。
Widespread planting of only one or two varieties of
rice also reduced?biodiversity. In the long-term, this can lead to the spread of disease among plants.
僅僅廣泛種植一兩種水稻也減少了生物多樣性。從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來(lái)看，這可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致植物間的疾病傳播。
Feeding a growing world 填飽一個(gè)不斷膨脹的世界
The methods used during the Green Revolution saved nearly one billion people from starvation, according to the New York Times.However, experts are divided on whether the lasting results are more good than bad.
據(jù)紐約時(shí)報(bào)的報(bào)道，在綠色革命期間使用的生物科技使將近10億人從饑餓中得以生存下來(lái)。然而，這最終的后果到底是好是壞，專家們對(duì)此持有不同意見。
Today food security is still an issue, and not just for Asia. At the same time,malnourishment?continues to affect millions of poor people on the continent. And?everywhere, farmers are dealing with issues resulting from?climate change.
如今，在亞洲及其他地區(qū)，食品安全仍然是一個(gè)重大的問(wèn)題。與此同時(shí)，營(yíng)養(yǎng)不良持續(xù)困擾著這片大陸上數(shù)百萬(wàn)的貧困人口。并且，農(nóng)戶們還要面對(duì)氣候變化導(dǎo)致的一系列問(wèn)題。
Rod Wing is an American scientist at the International Rice Research Institute. He says developing new kinds of rice with more nutrients but less of a harmful effect on the environment can reduce our dependence on gases linked to climate change. The problem, he says, is that the rice must require less water, fertilizer, and pesticides.
羅德·溫是國(guó)際水稻研究學(xué)會(huì)的一名美國(guó)科學(xué)家。他認(rèn)為開發(fā)一些營(yíng)養(yǎng)更加豐富，環(huán)境負(fù)擔(dān)更小的新水稻品種，能夠減少水稻對(duì)氣候條件的依賴。
In recent years, new kinds of rice that are more resistant to dry weather and floods are showing promising results in eastern India and Bangladesh, a country where floods used to cover or wash away crops.
最近幾年，在東印度和孟加拉國(guó)一些抗旱抗?jié)车男滤酒贩N經(jīng)受住了實(shí)際檢驗(yàn)。而在過(guò)去，這些地區(qū)的農(nóng)作物經(jīng)常被洪水淹沒或沖走。
A genetically engineered variety of rice has been developed to improve Vitamin A levels. Lack of Vitamin A kills many children under the age of five. In addition, researchers are developing crops that keep blood sugar lower and release energy slowly.
一種使用了基因工程技術(shù)的水稻能夠提升維他命A的含量。缺乏維他命A已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致了許多兒童在五歲之前夭折。此外，研究者正在開發(fā)能夠緩慢釋放能量從而使血糖含量維持在稍低水平的農(nóng)作物。
But the challenge of productivity that IR8 rice fueled remains, noted Wing. "The big question is...how are we going to feed three more billion people on the planet by 2050?"
但科學(xué)家羅德·溫指出，目前生產(chǎn)力面臨的挑戰(zhàn)是為剩余的IR8水稻供給養(yǎng)分?！白畲蟮碾y題就是···我們?cè)趺床拍軡M足這顆星球上將在2050年多出來(lái)的超過(guò)30億的人口”。
And while some farmers are experiencing larger harvests, they continue to battle other problems. The cost of growing the rice is "very, very high now. Labor cost is high," said farmer Rao.
當(dāng)一些農(nóng)民正經(jīng)歷越來(lái)越大的豐收時(shí)，他們也必須解決其他一些棘手的問(wèn)題——例如，種植水稻的成本。農(nóng)民勞說(shuō)，“現(xiàn)在，成本已經(jīng)越來(lái)越高了，特別是人力成本”。
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