VOA慢速英语:Irrigation Pioneer Wins World Food Prize

[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.42]this is the Agriculture Report in Special English. [00:06.95]A researcher who helped make crops grow in dry land areas [00:12.58]received the World Food Prize last week. [00:17.00]Daniel Hillel was recognized for his work in developing [00:22.57]what is called "micro-irrigation" or "drip irrigation." [00:28.34]It has made farming possible in places [00:31.40]where there is little rainfall or water. [00:35.02]Daniel Hillel's farm near his home in Israel shows his ideas at work. [00:42.36]"Each tree row is fed by these plastic tubes [00:46.63]that drip water at the base of the tree." [00:49.54]Watering plants drop by drop has changed agriculture [00:55.13]by reducing the amount of water needed to grow crops. [00:59.96]Jan Hopmans is a hydrologist at the University of California at Davis. [01:07.01]He studies water-related issues in society. [01:11.38]He says farmers now depend on drip irrigation in many areas, [01:17.10]including vineyards in Spain, onion fields in Africa, [01:23.88]and even farms in the United States. [01:27.61]"We in California grow about fifty percent of the fruits [01:30.47]and vegetables of the continental United States. [01:32.63]And the reason that is possible is because of, [01:35.35]indeed, these drip and micro-irrigation techniques." [01:38.46]The World Food Prize Foundation says Daniel Hillel [01:43.54]was born in California at the beginning of the Great Depression. [01:48.20]After his father died, his mother moved the family to Palestine, [01:53.94]where her parents lived. [01:56.20]The area eventually became part of the state of Israel. [02:00.74]Daniel Hillel got his start in dryland farming as a settler [02:06.76]in Israel's Negev Desert in the nineteen fifties. [02:10.98]"The issue was efficient use of water. [02:16.15]Because land is available. It's extensive. Water is limited." [02:23.58]Desert farmers were not able to push water [02:27.24]through irrigation canals to their crops, [02:30.78]the way farmers have since ancient times. [02:34.04]So Mr. Hillel and others gave plants just what they needed, [02:39.86]just where they needed it. [02:42.43]"The idea was to apply the water little by little, [02:47.40]the way you spoon-feed a baby." [02:49.40]The method worked so well that soon Mr. Hillel [02:53.61]was traveling the world, showing others how to do it. [02:57.93]Experts say drip irrigation is an idea whose importance is growing, [03:04.75]as climate change and rising population [03:09.02]stretch water supplies in many parts of the world. [03:13.74]"This is where water use, water availability, water-use efficiency [03:19.27]and climate change and crop production all converge. [03:24.14]And this has been really the essence of my career."

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