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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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Crop disease continues to be a problem |
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for farmers everywhere. |
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The non-profit Center for Agriculture |
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and Biosciences International says |
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pests and diseases destroy up to |
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40 percent of the food grown worldwide. |
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The center based in Britain is trying to change that |
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with a crop protection program, |
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the program is called Plantwise. |
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In the past three years, |
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Plantwise has trained almost one thousand so-called |
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plant doctors in 24 countries, |
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one of those countries is Uganda. |
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Recently, plant doctor Daniel Lyazi |
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set up a table under a small tent, |
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join market day in Mukono, the village |
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is about 15 kilometers from Kampala, the capital. |
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People brought samples of diseased plants to his clinic. |
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One farmer brought cabbage covered in slime. |
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Nothing can be done to save his cabbages this year, |
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but Daniel Lyazi's advice may save the next season's crop. |
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"So he's telling me there's a small caterpillar |
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starting from the youngest leaf. |
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He's told me that the whole garden has been attacked |
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and affected by this caterpillar. |
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So according to me, I know that it's a diamondback moth." |
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The farmer has been using an insecticide |
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but Mr Lyazi says the chemical is the wrong one. |
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"It's tolerant - it doesn't kill the diamondback moth caterpillar. |
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So I'm recommending him to use another insecticide called Fenkill, |
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and in another planting season he should plant with onions. |
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Onions can repel (the caterpillar) and he can get income." |
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He advises the farmer to plant onions |
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between the rows of cabbages |
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as an additional measure of protection. |
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The clinic lasts about three hours, |
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in that time Daniel Lyazi advises about 20 farmers. |
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The clinic takes place twice-a-month, it started last year. |
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The Plantwise program says |
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there are now about 90 of these clinics in Uganda, |
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this year donors spent close to $300,000 |
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training plant doctors and expanding the system in the country. |
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Joseph Mulema coordinates the Plantwise program in Uganda and Zambia. |
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He argues that plant clinics are a far more effective way |
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to get advice to farmers than the traditional model. |
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In the traditional model, agricultural extension workers visit farms. |
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"Plant clinics can help so many farmers in a very short time. |
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In fact, more farmers are seen in a plant clinic session, |
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if good mobilization is done, |
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than actually an extension officer can look at in an entire month." |
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Robert Karyeija is a crop protection officer for the government. |
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He says training plant doctors has been very important, |
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this is because even though |
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there were thousands of agricultural extension workers, |
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they just didn't know enough. |
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"They were there. |
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they would be general agriculturalists |
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who knew agronomy but didn't know much about pests and diseases." |
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Since 2010, The Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International |
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has set up Plantwise clinics in 12 African countries |
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- nine of them in East Africa and three in West Africa. |
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And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. |
