Growing Controversy Over GMO Bananas in Uganda

乌干达转基因香蕉争议日盛

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

Today, we take you to a small banana plantation near Kampala. The trees are healthy and green, but Andrew Kiggundu does not like what he sees.

今天我们带你到坎帕拉附近的一个小香蕉园。这些健康的香蕉树一片翠绿，但安德鲁·基冈度（Andrew Kiggundu）对他看到的却不满意。

"The disease on the leaves you see right now is not the wilt, it is a different disease called black sigatoka. It is just killing off the leaves and causing significant yield loss. This is a big problem, although of course not as much as the wilt, because the wilt just destroys the whole plant."

他说，“你现在看到的叶子所患的病不是香蕉枯萎病，它是一种不同的疾病，被称为香蕉叶斑病。它正在杀死香蕉叶子，并造成重大的产量损失。这是一个大问题，虽然其危害尚不及香蕉枯萎病，因为香蕉枯萎病会破坏整颗植株。”

Andrew Kiggundu works with the National Agricultural Research Organization, also known as NARO. The Ugandan government agency is developing genetically engineer bananas. The new plants are meant to resist black sigatoka and banana bacterial wilt, which has been destroying a large amounts of the country's banana crop.

基冈度就职于乌干达国家农业研究组织（简称NARO）。这家乌干达政府机构正在开发转基因香蕉。这种新作物是为了对抗香蕉叶斑病和香蕉细菌性枯萎病，这两种病害已经摧毁了乌干达大量的香蕉作物。

Uganda is the world's top consumer of bananas. NARO Research Director Wilberforce Tushemereirwe says this is why it is so important to produce healthy plants.

乌干达是全球最大的香蕉消费国。乌干达国家农业研究组织的研究总监Wilberforce Tushemereirwe表示，这就是生产健康作物如此重要的原因。

"The disease keeps on moving around wiping out garden after garden, so you will go to areas where you find they have changed from banana to annual crops. That has already introduced food insecurity, because they are not used to handling annual crops."

他说，“这种疾病四处肆掠，挨个消灭香蕉园，所以你在一些地方会发现，它们已经从香蕉变成了一年生作物。这已经引发了粮食不安全，因为它们不是用来对付一年生作物。”

The central African nation already permits testing of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would permit the development and distribution of such organisms through out the country. But some activists say genetically modified organisms would be dangerous to human health and the environment.

乌干达这种中非国家已经允许转基因生物实验。立法者正在筹备一项允许这类生物在全国开发和扩散的议案。但一些活动人士表示，转基因生物对人类和环境有害。

Giregon Olupot is a soil biophysicist at Makerere University in Kampala.

Giregon Olupot是坎帕拉市马凯雷雷大学的一位土壤生物物理学家。

"There are a range of options that risk to be wiped [out], just by this technology. With bananas, tissue culture has worked well to engineer healthy plants. You then take these plants to a clean garden and maintain field hygiene. Why are we not giving emphasis to that technology?"

他说，“通过这项技术可以消除很多类的风险。在香蕉方面，植物组织培养在改造健康植株基因方面效果很好。然后我们把这些植株移入无病害的香蕉园里并保持田间卫生。为什么我们不重视这种技术？”

Most genetically modified seeds are patented, this means farmers must purchase them after each planting. Mr Olupot says, this might be possible for profitable farmers, but smaller farmers depend on their own seeds. In his opinion, selling genetically modified seeds to small farmers could trap them.

大多数转基因种子具有专利，这意味着农民们每次播种后都要再次购买种子。Olupot先生说，这对效益好的农民来说没问题，但规模较小的农民都依赖自己的种子。在他看来，销售转基因种子会使小农户陷入困境。

"If you are to go commercial, it has to be on a large scale. Now the farmers we are talking about, on average, have 0.4 hectares of land. It is simply not suitable for our farmers."

他说，“如果你要商业化就必须大规模。我们现在谈论的这些农民平均只有0.4公顷土地，所以它根本不适合我们这些农民。”

A public institution is developing Uganda's genetically modified bananas. NARO says no patent laws will restrict their use. But Mr Olupot says this would probably not be true with genetically modified crops introduced to Uganda in future. Mr Kiggundu says opponents of genetically modified plans have been strong in their criticisms. He says many farmers are now afraid of GMOs.

一家公共机构正在开发乌干达的转基因香蕉。乌干达国家农业研究组织表示，没有专利法会限制它们的使用。但Olupot表示，这对未来引入到乌干达的转基因作物来说是不可能的。基冈度先生说，转基因计划反对者的批评声一直很大。

The Ugandan parliament is expected to pass the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill before the end of the year.

乌干达议会有望在今年年底之前通过生物技术和生物安全法案。

And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English.

以上就是来自美国之音英语学习农业报道的全部内容。