VOA慢速英語(翻譯+字幕+講解):阿富汗罌粟種植大豐收
From VOA Learning English, this is the Agricultural Report.
Afghan farmers have another big harvest this year, but officials at the United Nations and around the world are not celebrating.
The crop is opium, farmers have been busy harvest their opium poppies. Farmer Faiz Mohammed in Helmand province makes no apologies.
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2013 expected opium cultivation levels in Afghanistan, by province.
"We are the poorest people in this area. If we don't cultivate poppies we can't feed ourselves and our family. We have tried to cultivate corn and wheat, but that is too cheap, doesn't bring a good income. And poppy crops bring good money."
The riches promised by opuim stands in contrast, to the rest of the country's struggling economy. Farmer Harie Abudola says profits are driving the opium production, not pressure from the Taliban.
"The Taliban have no influence here. The farmers themselves grow poppies because, compared to the price of wheat, there is a huge difference. For instance, we sell four kilograms of corn for 100 Afghanis [$1.89 USD] but poppies bring 2000-5000 Afghanis [$37.80-$94.57 USD]. This is for the benefit of the farmers, we see there is a huge difference in the price."
A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warns that Afghanistan could supply as much as 90% of the world's heroin, UN official Jean-Luc Lemahieu calls it a sign of failure.
"We have seen enormous inflow in this country over the last decades. And with regards to the drug control situation, we still see increases of the opium cultivation, so we cannot say in any way, based on the facts, that we have succeeded. We have failed."
And he warns that farmers are not the only ones becoming dependent on opium.
"It is one of the biggest diseases this country is facing at this moment - one million addicts. It is an enormous health problem. Who will pay for that?"
That question is far from that thoughts of opium farmers, who say they have no other way to feed their families.
The report released last week says opium production is especially high in the most unstable areas of Afghanistan. These are areas where the surge increase in American troops, helped beat back Taliban influence.
The report says insurgents use the insecurity in those areas, especially Helmand and Kandahar provinces. To win popular support, the insurgents also assisted opium farmers with their crops.
The UN says poor weather and crop disease lead to a reduction in the supply of opium last year. That reduction meant higher price. The report notes that the higher price of opium, makes it an even more attractive crop to grow now.
The UN says this is the third year in a row that opium poppy growing has increased in Afghanistan. This follows gains made by the government, in years of efforts to reduce the nation's share of the drug trade.
And that's the Agricultural Report from VOA Learning English. You can read, listen and learn English with more stories about agriculture at the voalearningenglish website. I am Karen Leggett.
文本轉自51voa
1.opium poppy n. [毒物][植] 罌粟
Along the way I made out a patch of opium poppies waiting to be harvested.
沿路我還辨認出一片等待收割的罌粟田。
2.heroin n. [藥][毒物] 海洛因，嗎啡
He had to surrender the watches to the police in which the heroin was hidden.
他被迫向員警交出了那些藏有海洛因的手錶。
3.addict n. 有癮的人；入迷的人
The addict prowled about for a place to drug up.
癮君子到處潛行找個地方吸毒。
4.in a row 連續；成一長行
They dropped two games in a row and were eliminated from the tournament.
他們在划船比賽中輸了兩場比賽，並被淘汰出局。
這裡是美國之音慢速英語農業報導。
阿富汗農民今年再次大豐收，但聯合國和全世界的官員們對此並不表示歡慶。
這種作物是鴉片，農民們忙著收穫罌粟。赫爾曼德省農民費茲·穆罕默德認為不慶祝是理所當然的。
“我們是這地區最窮的人，如果我們不種罌粟，那就沒辦法養活自己和家人了。我們曾試過種玉米和小麥，但太便宜了，收入不行。還是種罌粟掙錢。”
與這裡罌粟豐收帶來的富足相比，該國其他地方經濟每況日下。農民Harie Abudola說，是利潤促進了鴉片生產，而非塔利班的施壓。
“塔利班在這裡沒有影響力，農民們自己種罌粟是因為，與小麥的價格相比，罌粟收入很高。比如，每4千克玉米賣價100阿富汗尼(1.89美元)，但同樣重量的罌粟賣價2000-5000阿富汗尼(37.80-94.57美元)。這對農民的收入來說，從價格上就可看到很大的差別。”
聯合國毒品與犯罪辦公室的一份報告警告說，阿富汗人供應了全世界90%的海洛因，聯合國官員雷馬休稱這是失敗的信號。
“過去幾十年，我們看到該國收入頗豐。在毒品控制局勢方面，我們看到鴉片種植的增加，所以基於事實，我們無論如何都不能說我們成功了，事實上我們失敗了。”
他警告說，農民並非越發依賴鴉片的唯一群體。
“這是我國目前面臨的一大頑疾，100萬癮君子，這是巨大的健康問題，誰來為此買單呢？”
這些問題根本不在鴉片農民的思考之內，他們說沒有養活家人的其他辦法。
上周發佈的報告稱，阿富汗最動盪地區的鴉片產量非常高，這裡阿富汗軍隊駐兵驟增以幫助擊退塔利班的勢力。
報告稱叛軍利用這些地區的動亂興風作亂，尤其是赫爾曼德省和坎大哈省。叛軍為獲得民眾支持，也幫助鴉片農民種植罌粟。
聯合國稱，去年的惡劣天氣和作物病害導致鴉片供應下降。這意味著價格上去了，報告稱鴉片價格越高，人們更願意種植罌粟。
聯合國稱，阿富汗的罌粟種植量已連續三年有所增加。此前，阿富汗政府經過多年努力，降低了該國在全球毒品交易中的份額。
這裡是美國之音慢速英語農業報導，你可登陸voalearningenglish網站獲取更多農業報導，我是凱倫·萊格特。
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