VOA Agriculture Report

There are list lessons of voa agriculture report:

	Agriculture Report - Diseases Attack Cassava Crops in East and Central Africa
	Agriculture Report - Debating How to Fight Hunger in Africa
	Agriculture Report - Simple Machines Make Life Easier for Poor Farmers
	Agriculture Report - Turning Unused City Lots Into Farms
	Agriculture Report - Special Grain May Reduce Iron Deficiency
	Agriculture Report - How Irrigation Systems Can Increase Malaria Risk
	Agriculture Report - Seeking Causes of Honeybee Loss
	Agriculture Report - Using Social Media to Reduce Food Waste
	Agriculture Report - What Immigration Reform Could Mean to US Farmers
	Agriculture Report - In the Garden: Growing Chillies
	Agriculture Report - British Ban on Khat Angers Kenyan Farmers
	Agriculture Report - Debating Direct Payments to Farmers
	Agriculture Report - Farmer Discovers Unapproved Genetically Modified Wheat in Field
	Agriculture Report - Practicing Climate-Friendly Agriculture
	Agriculture Report - In DRC, a Solution to Crop Thefts?
	Agriculture Report - Debating Government Payments for Farmers
	Agriculture Report - Straw Bale Gardening: Advice for Beginners
	Agriculture Report - Cassava Virus Spreads to West Africa
	Agriculture Report - Afghan Farmers Again Increase Poppy Crop
	Agriculture Report - Schoolchildren in Virginia City Go Green

Agriculture Report - Schoolchildren in Virginia City Go Green

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Delggado	I'm	Louis	Ten-year-old	The	about	city's	clean	composting	coordinator
environment	goal	lessons	like	one	organic	says	support	taking	telephones
the	these	they	things	water	when	young

Go Green Initiative is a program for schoolchildren in American city of Manassas, Virginia. It teaches earth-friendly behaviors, recycling things instead of throwing them away. Nine-year-old Louis has learned why recycling is important. He says throwing away without recycling makes the earth a dirtier place. is one of more than 7,000 elementary school students part in the Go Green Initiative. The program receives from the city government. Sandy Thompson is the program's . She says the Manassas schools recycle almost everything, from to plastic bags. The schools use single stream recycling possible. This means collecting paper, plastic and glass in container instead of separating them. Mike Moon is the director of public works and utilities. He says the is to raise awareness about recycling to keep Manassas . But he adds that Go Green is not just recycling. He says it is also about energy and conservation. Boys and girls also learn about gardening and . Composting turns uneaten food and kitchen waste into rich matter. Mike Moon says children often have never experienced methods commonly used in agriculture. Sandy Thompson says the the children learn go beyond the classroom. She says start their own gardens at home and recycle more. Maria Seaburg planted a garden behind her home. She she enjoys gardening and recycling because it helps the . Mike Moon says good recycling behavior, taught at a age, will last a lifetime. For VOA Learning English, Carolyn Presutti.

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Agriculture Report - Afghan Farmers Again Increase Poppy Crop

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Afghan	Crime	I'm	These	UN	a	adviser	been	crop
crops	dependent	effort	farmers	helped	is	no	of	officials	opium
percent	production	province	says	that	the

farmers are expecting another big harvest this year, but at the United Nations and around the world see reason to celebrate. The crop is opium. Farmers have busy harvesting their opium poppies. One farmer in Helmand says wheat and corn bring too little income. He people in Helmand cannot feed themselves by growing food . A report by the UN Office on Drugs and warns that Afghanistan could supply as much as 90 of the world's heroin. The report says opium production especially high in the most unstable areas of Afghanistan. are areas where the surge increase in American troops beat back Taliban influence.

The report says insurgents used insecurity in areas like Helmand and Kandahar province as chance to win popular support. They also assisted opium with their crops.

The UN says poor weather and disease led to a reduction in the supply of last year, which drove up prices. The higher price opium makes more farmers want to grow poppies. The says this is the third year in a row opium poppy-growing has increased in Afghanistan. A UN special on drug issues says the huge opium crop is sign of failure. He adds that while farmers are on the income from opium, 1 million people in country are addicted to the drug. The increase in follows gains made by the government during years of to reduce the drug trade. For VOA Learning English, Laurel Bowman

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Agriculture Report - Cassava Virus Spreads to West Africa

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Cassava	Claude	Global	Learning	Now	One	Republic	Scientists	about
as	been	began	in	is	of	plant	reduce
spread	the	to	tropical	use	ways	world's

and agricultural experts recently met in Italy to talk how to fight cassava disease. A virus that has killing this important crop in East Africa has now to West Africa. Experts are concerned that it could quickly throughout West Africa, including Nigeria. Nigeria is the largest producer and consumer of cassava. Cassava is a root vegetable that requires little work. It grows well poor-quality soil and high temperatures. The roots are full carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Cassava can also be used an industrial starch to produce plywood, textiles and paper. is sometimes called a miracle crop for Africa. But

diseases have been a problem for about 100 years. particularly bad virus is

cassava brown streak disease. It infecting cassava fields in East Africa 10 years ago. it has spread as far west as the Democratic of Congo. Brown streak disease is spread in two : by white flies and by infected stem cuttings. Farmers these cuttings instead of seeds to plant their fields. Fauquet is a plant virus expert. He heads the Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century. He says it hard to see signs of the disease in the itself. Instead, it becomes visible in the roots when plant is harvested. He says scientists and organizations have find a way to offer farmers virus-free plant cuttings. Fauquet says scientists are experimenting with a virus-resistant cassava in Tanzania. Experts warn that brown streak disease could cassava production in Africa by 50 percent. For VOA English, I'm Mario Ritter.

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Agriculture Report - Straw Bale Gardening: Advice for Beginners

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Hay	Internet	Joel	Straw	a	ancient	and	animals	are	bale
bales	baling	days	find	gardening	grain	in	out	planting
prevent	soil	straw	the	to	weeks	wrote

bale gardening is a way to grow food above ground. Straw is what remains of plant stems after is harvested. The long, dry tubes are gathered into . Bales are often about a meter long and half meter high and wide. Straw is different from hay. is made from whole plants and used to feed . Straw is used mostly for animal bedding. Joel Karsten a book called "Straw Bale Gardens." He says this , and increasingly popular, idea is a form of container . He says using containers makes gardening easier by reducing need to pull weeds and deal with insect problems. Karsten says straw bales can require less water, and plant diseases caused by too much water in the . He says it is not possible to overwater a of straw because all the extra water just runs the bottom. In areas with polluted soil, growing food straw bales is easier than building above-ground containers for . Oats and wheat are the most commonly baled grains the United States. Rice straw is also good for and gardening. The straw bale becomes both the container the growing material. Preparing the bale takes about two . The first step is to add water and fertilizer the center of the bale every day for three . This begins the process of bacteria breaking down the into a growing medium. Once this happens, the bales ready for seeds or young plants. Some experts say seedlings is better than growing from seeds. You can plenty of information about straw bale gardening on the . For VOA Learning English, I'm Alex Villarreal

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Agriculture Report - Debating Government Payments for Farmers

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Bowman	But	Farm	From	International	Mary	Now	Organization	She	This
United	been	down	earned	even	farmers	for	from	higher	its
of	payments	subsidies	the	there	what	wheat	when	whether

VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report. The States Congress has been debating a new Farm Bill. is a huge five-year plan that includes support programs American farmers. Government payments make up eight percent of income of farmers growing such major crops as maize, , soybeans, cotton and peanuts. That eight percent is one the lowest levels of support among developed countries. The for Economic Cooperation and Development says the average among members is 20 percent. One reason for the low is high global crop prices. The price supports, or , that pay farmers when prices are low have not used very much recentlyGrain prices are high. Farmers have record or near-record profits in the past few years. they still receive about $5 billion every year in are called direct payments. These payments go to farmers crop prices are high or low. Farmers do not have to grow a crop to get direct payments. , Congress wants to cut between $20 and $40 billion farm subsidies. Even the largest farmers' group, the American Bureau Federation, expects that direct payments will end soon. Kay Thatcher is the chief lobbyist for the group. says the payments are hard to justify politically. But are proposals to increase subsidies once crop prices go again. One version would let farmers receive payments with market prices. Another would protect a farmer's total income prices fall. David Orden is an economist with the Food Policy Institute. He says both versions would anger in other countries. For VOA Learning English, I'm Laurel

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Agriculture Report - In DRC, a Solution to Crop Thefts?

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Congo	Farmers	The	an	are	at	be	cassava	demand
different	divided	dried	food	groups	in	is	less
most	processed	soybeans	that	the	to	war	wars

in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of are protecting against crop theft in an unusual way. farmers are growing crops that are less likely to stolen. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the past year many farmers have started to grow crops. Guillaume Kahomboshi is a food security expert with FAO in Goma. He says small farmers think the that break out at harvest time may just be excuse to steal their crops. Mr. Kahomboshi notes that of the people in Rutshuru, a territory near Uganda, starting to grow soybeansThe expert suggests this is because are not good to eat until they have been and milled. He says the armed groups want food is ready to eat. In addition, there is good for soybeans in Uganda for making biscuits and other foods. Farmers in Masisi, another war-stricken territory in Uganda, switching to growing cassava. Franck Muke is an agronomist Goma University. He agrees that soybeans are less likely be stolen. But he is not so sure about , which is called manioc in Congo. He says cassava more of a risk because it is a staple . Cassava is not necessarily easy to steal. But it easily destroyed. The non-governmental organization Concern spoke with people villages in Masisi. The group reports that there was theft of cassava than of other crops. Years of and ethnic conflict in parts of eastern Congo have communities there. This means villagers' crops are as likely be stolen by their neighbors as by the armed . For VOA Learning English, I'm Carolyn Presutti.

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Agriculture Report - Practicing Climate-Friendly Agriculture

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Agriculture	Brazil	English	Institute	Nations	all	are	be	cities	drought
effects	farms	from	help	in	is	its	link	notes	percent
production	recommends	soil	transportation	was

produces a lot of the heat-trapping gasses that scientists to rising temperatures and climate change. Agriculture also can hurt by the effects of climate change. The Worldwatch in Washington suggests ways that agriculture can reduce its on the environment. Worldwatch released a report called "Innovations Sustainable Agriculture: Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production." Researcher Danielle Nierenberg one of its authors. She says 25 to 30 of all greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. This because fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotic drugs, transportation and processing are dependent on oil, gas and coalDanielle Nierenberg says animal has an especially big effect on the environment. She that more meat is being eaten in countries like , China and India. As a result, more industrial factory are being built in the developing world. The report six land and water use practices that it says sustainable. These include growing trees on farmland to reduce erosion and planting cover crops to protect soil from , heat and pests. Danielle Nierenberg says urban farming can as well. Growing more food in cities can reduce costs, she says. Urban residents then can buy food within their communities. Other recommendations include recycling wastewater in , drip irrigation, and catching and storing rainwater. The United estimates that changes in the agriculture industry could cut carbon dioxide production by 88 percent. For VOA Learning , I'm Alex Villarreal.

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Agriculture Report - Farmer Discovers Unapproved Genetically Modified Wheat in Field

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But	From	Learning	Oregon	The	United	buyers	countries	field	genetically
imports	is	it	made	of	production	soybean	the
unwanted	was	wheat	with

VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report. Some have suspended imports of wheat from the United States. suspensions were announced after an unapproved form of wheat found in the state of Oregon. The crop was engineered. An Oregon farmer recently discovered wheat in his that survived the popular weed killer Roundup. Roundup is by the seed and chemical company Monsato to destroy plants. The company has created genetically engineered corn, cotton, and canola crops that resist Roundup. Monsanto field-tested Roundup-resistant . But it never sold the seeds. Michael Firko is the United States Department of Agriculture. He says the passed safety inspections. Monsanto ended its wheat project because in Europe and Asia were concerned about the safety genetically engineered crops. The discovery of unapproved wheat in led Japan and South Korea to temporarily suspend some . The United States is the world's largest wheat exporter. American agriculture has difficulty competing against other countries because costs are higher in the United States. Mark Welch an agricultural economist at Texas AM University. He says incident could affect America's place in the world market. States officials are working to identify the source of genetically engineered wheat. There is no evidence yet that has entered the food supply. The Department of Agriculture working to make tests available to wheat buyersFor VOA English, I'm Laurel Bowman

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Agriculture Report - Debating Direct Payments to Farmers

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$60	American	And	Other	The	a	and	bad	cheaper	crisis
critics	cuts	farm	farmers	from	new	save	say	that	the
they	to	too	trouble	unpopular	was	world	would

United States Senate recently voted to cut a program makes $5 billion a year in direct payments to . But the Senate agreed to add new subsidies that say could hurt farmers in other countries. The vote part of a $955 billion farm bill approved by wide majority in the Senate. Ten days later, however, House of Representatives defeated its own version of the bill. The Senate bill would cut about $24 billion the federal budget over 10 years. Some of those come from direct payments. Farmers receive direct payments whether had good years or bad. But high crop prices historically high farm profits have made the payments politically at a time of reduced federal spendingThe Senate bill help farmers manage the risk of bad weather and markets. It would do this by offering crop insurance farmers raising crops that have not previously been insured. it would make payments to farmers if prices drop much. Supporters say the goal is to help the farmers who supply the nation with food. But critics the bill goes too far. Some say the proposed guarantees to pay farmers if prices drop could cause for the United States at the World Trade Organization. countries could claim that the policy suppresses prices in markets. The bill would also let the government buy million in emergency food aid closer to where a is happening. Supporters say doing that is faster and than shipping food from the United States, and could more lives. For VOA Learning English, I'm Mario Ritter.

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Agriculture Report - British Ban on Khat Angers Kenyan Farmers

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Association	Exports	National	Netherlands	and	banned	been	called	collapse	developments
drug	feel	is	known	leafy	lift	mainly	move	of
say	the	to	week

Kenyan farmers say a British ban on the plant as khat will seriously affect their businesses and economy. of khat, also called miraa, are worth a lot money to Kenya. The farmers have exported the plant to European countries and Somalia. Khat is grown in colder climates of central Kenya. For years, people have using it as a drug. Chewing the leaves of plant can increase the heartbeat and make a person more awake. Some Kenyan politicians and khat traders have on the government to open talks with British officials convince them to cancel the ban on khat. They ending the ban would save Kenya's khat industry from . Kipkorir Menjo is the director of the Kenya Farmers . He says the ban will affect tens of thousands peopleIn July, British Home Secretary Theresa May banned the stimulant. She warned that traders could use Britain to khat illegally to other European countries. Khat is already in most European countries, including France, Germany and the . Kenyan traders exported about 20 tons of khat to Netherlands weekly before the ban. Another 36 tons a was sent to Britain. Kipkorir Menjo says khat farmers traders need to speak up so that Britain can the banAs the farmers and traders study the latest in Europe, another battle awaits them inside Kenya. The Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse urging the government to list khat as an illegal . For VOA Learning English, I'm Alex Villarreal.

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