“我對(duì)與中國(guó)合作充滿(mǎn)希望,期待中國(guó)的創(chuàng)新技術(shù)成為非洲發(fā)展的重要助力,讓非洲人民過(guò)上健康而富有成效的生活。” |
In 1968, when I was in high school, a book titled The Population Bomb was published. The author, Paul Erlich, began the book with this statement: "The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate" I knew very little about farming then, but was frightened by the vision and wondered if anyone could prevent this future state. Fortunately, due in large part to the individual dynamism and genius of a man named Norman Borlaug, this dire prediction did not come true. Borlaug, along with Yuan Longping and other researchers, identified new seed varieties for rice, wheat and maize, launching the "Green Revolution" in the 1960s that helped farmers double and triple their yields around the world. But the benefits of the Green Revolution didn't reach every region of the world; yields in Africa are still dismally low and farmers continue to face tough conditions to grow their crops. Climate change has contributed to an increase in droughts and floods in tropical regions, which is a huge challenge for smallholder farmers living there. Today, almost a billion people are affected by severe hunger and poverty. It is a horrible irony that so many of those who go to bed hungry are the same people growing and harvesting food. But poor farmers are not the problem to be fixed, they are the solution. At our foundation, we put the smallholder farmer at the center of our work, we believe by listening to their needs and understanding the crops they want to grow, the food they want to eat, we will make the right investments and find the best innovations to help drive a new Green Revolution in Africa. China is one of our key partners, with rich experience and deep expertise in agriculture, which can help accelerate progress in poor countries. China is also a world leader in rice breeding. We are thrilled to be partnering with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences to develop a series of new rice varieties, Green Super Rice. The new rice varieties will mean farmers have to use less inputs - so they don't need to rely as much on fertilizer and water. Green Super Rice has been introduced to some African and Asian countries for early trials. In some pilot countries, it has helped smallholder farmers increase production by 20 percent. The next step is to share China's promising results with other poor countries, and help farming families increase productivity in an affordable and sustainable way. The innovations in gene sequencing, led by Chinese scientists at the Beijing Genome Institute, could also lead to dramatic productivity gains. Historically, it would take years for crop breeders to find and cross breed the right combination of seed variants to deliver higher yielding seed varieties. Now, however, scientists can sequence the genomes of thousands of plants and use computer algorithms to predict which combinations will work best, greatly simplifying and accelerating this process and the potential gains for farmers. Imagine the analogy of a large public library with rooms full of books. We used to have to use the card catalogue and browse through the books to find the information we needed. Now we know the precise page that contains the piece of information we need. In the same way, we can find out precisely which plant contains a gene conferring a specific characteristic. It is exciting to be partnering with BGI in this initiative, working with some of the best scientists, and the best technology to drive progress for the poorest people in the world. Beyond agricultural innovation, China has rich experience and significant potential in bio-gas, vaccine R&D and manufacture, and medicine research, which are critical for helping the poorest in Africa to alleviate poverty and live productive lives. We are pleased to cooperate with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology to co-invest in these innovative programs for the poorest in Africa and around the world. |
1968年,我正在讀中學(xué),當(dāng)時(shí)保羅?埃利希的《人口爆炸》一書(shū)影響很大。這本書(shū)的開(kāi)頭是這樣寫(xiě)的:“讓全人類(lèi)吃飽的努力已經(jīng)失敗,70年代將有億萬(wàn)人因饑餓喪生,現(xiàn)在啟動(dòng)任何速成項(xiàng)目都無(wú)濟(jì)于事,世界人口死亡率大幅上升已成定局……”雖然當(dāng)時(shí)我對(duì)農(nóng)業(yè)知之甚少,但也驚詫于人類(lèi)面臨的巨大挑戰(zhàn),并對(duì)人類(lèi)能否避免這一厄運(yùn)擔(dān)憂(yōu)不止。 幸運(yùn)的是,這個(gè)可怕的預(yù)言失敗了。很大程度上我們要感謝世界上幾位農(nóng)業(yè)天才的創(chuàng)新。美國(guó)的諾曼?博羅格和中國(guó)的袁隆平等農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)家,研發(fā)出了新品種的小麥、水稻以及玉米,并由此在20世紀(jì)引發(fā)了一場(chǎng)“綠色革命”。這場(chǎng)革命在世界范圍內(nèi)幫助農(nóng)民將糧食產(chǎn)量提高了兩到三倍。 然而,“綠色革命”的成果并沒(méi)有惠及世界的每一個(gè)角落。非洲的糧食畝產(chǎn)量迄今仍然在低位徘徊,氣候變化導(dǎo)致熱帶地區(qū)洪澇災(zāi)害和極端干旱頻頻發(fā)生,給當(dāng)?shù)氐募Z食生產(chǎn)雪上加霜。今天,世界上有超過(guò)10億人仍在饑餓與貧困中掙扎。蓋茨基金會(huì)一直在尋找能將一場(chǎng)新的“綠色革命”引入非洲的創(chuàng)新方法。 中國(guó)是我們?cè)谵r(nóng)業(yè)領(lǐng)域的重要合作伙伴之一。中國(guó)不但在幫助本國(guó)農(nóng)民提高糧食產(chǎn)量、脫貧致富方面有豐富經(jīng)驗(yàn),而且在水稻現(xiàn)代育種方面處于世界領(lǐng)先地位。我們正在與中國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)科學(xué)院進(jìn)行“綠色超級(jí)稻”的研發(fā)合作。這種新型水稻品種對(duì)于化肥和水資源的依賴(lài)性相對(duì)較少,目前已經(jīng)引進(jìn)到一些非洲和南亞國(guó)家進(jìn)行試點(diǎn)。當(dāng)?shù)氐男∞r(nóng)戶(hù)已經(jīng)通過(guò)“綠色超級(jí)稻”實(shí)現(xiàn)了增產(chǎn)20%的目標(biāo)。一位從試驗(yàn)田考察回來(lái)的同事說(shuō),她曾看到當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)民在豐收后手捧稻谷,激動(dòng)地說(shuō),“這簡(jiǎn)直是來(lái)自上天的禮物!”而科研工作者知道,這是中國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)創(chuàng)新帶給世界的禮物。 除了先進(jìn)的稻種科技,中國(guó)的基因測(cè)序技術(shù)也可能幫助世界。由中國(guó)科學(xué)家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的基因測(cè)序技術(shù),對(duì)于幫助大幅提高糧食產(chǎn)量深具潛力。想象一下,在一個(gè)大型公共圖書(shū)館中,我們過(guò)去要使用卡片目錄在浩如煙海的圖書(shū)中找到相關(guān)文獻(xiàn),然后再一頁(yè)一頁(yè)尋找我們需要的信息。如今,我們可以直接而精確地了解到所需要的信息在哪本書(shū)的哪一頁(yè)。這就是神奇的基因測(cè)序技術(shù),它可以顯著提高植物育種的速度。通過(guò)與中國(guó)頂尖科學(xué)家們的合作,我們非常期待全世界最貧困的人們可以受益于這些神奇的技術(shù)。 我對(duì)與中國(guó)合作充滿(mǎn)希望,期待中國(guó)的創(chuàng)新技術(shù)成為非洲發(fā)展的重要助力,讓非洲人民過(guò)上健康而富有成效的生活。 (來(lái)源:China Daily/人民日?qǐng)?bào)) (作者為比爾及梅琳達(dá)?蓋茨基金會(huì)聯(lián)席主席) |