VOA慢速英语:Growing Controversy Over GMO Bananas in Uganda

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，我们带你去坎帕拉附近的一个小香蕉种植园。这些健康的树木绿油油，但Andrew Kiggundu却不喜欢他所见到的。

"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."
“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，被称为香蕉黑条叶斑病。它正在杀死香蕉叶子，并造成重大的产量损失。这是一个很大的问题，虽然其危害尚不及枯萎病，因为枯萎病会破坏整棵香蕉树。”

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.
Andrew Kiggundu就职于国家农业研究组织（也被称为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黑条叶斑病和香蕉细菌性枯萎病，这两种病害已经摧毁了该国大量的香蕉作物。

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.
乌干达是世界最大的香蕉消费国。NARO的研究总监Wilberforce Tushemereirwe称，这就是为什么生产健康作物是如此的重要。

"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."
“这种疾病四处扩散，消灭了香蕉园，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.
这个中非国家已经允许转基因生物实验。立法者正在考虑一项允许这类生物在全国开发和分布的议案。但是，一些活动人士称，转基因生物对人类健康和环境造成危害。

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?"
“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。然后我们把这些植物种到干净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.
大多数转基因种子都有专利，这意味着农民们每次播种后都必须再次购买种子。Olupot先生说，农民对此可能有利可图，但规模较小的农民都依靠自己的种子。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."
“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，很简单，这不适合我们的农民。”

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。NARO称，没有专利法会限制它们的使用。但Olupo称，这对未来乌干达引进转基因作物来说是不可能的。Kiggundu先生说，转基因计划反对者的批评声一直很大。他说，许多农民现在都很担心转基因作物。

The Ugandan parliament is expected to pass the Biotechnology and Biosafety Bill before the end of the year.
乌干达议会预计将在今年年底之前通过生物技术和生物安全法案。