The Drought and the Rice Harvest
IntermediateWeather
A visiting agricultural researcher talks with a village farmer about how this summer's long drought has affected the rice crop and what can be done next season.
L
LiW
WangL
王大哥,您好!我是来做农业调查的研究员,今年夏天旱得厉害吧?
Wáng dàgē, nín hǎo! Wǒ shì lái zuò nóngyè diàochá de yánjiùyuán, jīnnián xiàtiān hàn de lìhai ba?
Brother Wang, hello! I'm a researcher here to do an agricultural survey. This summer's drought has been really bad, hasn't it?
W
别提了,今年真是太旱了,都两个多月没下过一场像样的雨了。
Bié tí le, jīnnián zhēnshì tài hàn le, dōu liǎng gè duō yuè méi xià guò yī chǎng xiàngyàng de yǔ le.
Don't even mention it. This year has really been too dry—it's been over two months without a single decent rain.
L
那您家的稻子受影响大不大?现在长得怎么样?
Nà nín jiā de dàozi shòu yǐngxiǎng dà bu dà? Xiànzài zhǎng de zěnmeyàng?
Then is the rice in your fields badly affected? How is it growing now?
W
影响可大了,稻田里的水早就干了,好多稻子的叶子都发黄了。
Yǐngxiǎng kě dà le, dàotián lǐ de shuǐ zǎo jiù gān le, hǎo duō dàozi de yèzi dōu fā huáng le.
The impact is huge. The water in the paddies dried up long ago, and a lot of the rice leaves have turned yellow.
L
那您想办法浇水了吗?村里的水渠还能用吗?
Nà nín xiǎng bànfǎ jiāo shuǐ le ma? Cūn lǐ de shuǐqú hái néng yòng ma?
So have you found ways to irrigate? Can the village's water channels still be used?
W
水渠早没水了,我们只能用抽水机从河里抽,可河里的水位也低得很。
Shuǐqú zǎo méi shuǐ le, wǒmen zhǐ néng yòng chōushuǐjī cóng hé lǐ chōu, kě hé lǐ de shuǐwèi yě dī de hěn.
The channels ran dry ages ago. We can only pump water from the river, but even the river's water level is very low.
L
看来今年的收成肯定要减产了,您估计能少多少?
Kànlái jīnnián de shōucheng kěndìng yào jiǎnchǎn le, nín gūjì néng shǎo duōshao?
It seems this year's harvest will definitely be reduced. How much do you reckon it'll drop?
W
往年一亩地能收上千斤,今年恐怕连一半都收不到啊。
Wǎngnián yī mǔ dì néng shōu shàng qiān jīn, jīnnián kǒngpà lián yī bàn dōu shōu bu dào a.
In normal years one mu of land yields over a thousand jin, but this year I'm afraid we won't even get half.
L
这损失确实不小。其实我们研究所培育了一种比较耐旱的稻种。
Zhè sǔnshī quèshí bù xiǎo. Qíshí wǒmen yánjiūsuǒ péiyù le yī zhǒng bǐjiào nàihàn de dàozhǒng.
That's really no small loss. Actually, our institute has developed a variety of rice seed that's fairly drought-resistant.
W
真的吗?那种稻子缺水的时候也能长得好?
Zhēn de ma? Nà zhǒng dàozi quē shuǐ de shíhou yě néng zhǎng de hǎo?
Really? Can that kind of rice still grow well even when there's a water shortage?
L
对,它比普通稻种更抗旱。明年您可以先试种几亩,看看效果。
Duì, tā bǐ pǔtōng dàozhǒng gèng kànghàn. Míngnián nín kěyǐ xiān shì zhòng jǐ mǔ, kànkan xiàoguǒ.
Yes, it's more drought-resistant than ordinary seed. Next year you could first try planting a few mu and see the results.
W
那太好了!要是真能抗旱,以后再碰上旱年,我们就不用那么发愁了,谢谢您!
Nà tài hǎo le! Yàoshi zhēn néng kànghàn, yǐhòu zài pèng shàng hàn nián, wǒmen jiù bù yòng nàme fāchóu le, xièxie nín!
That would be great! If it really resists drought, then next time we hit a dry year we won't have to worry so much. Thank you!