尼日利亚农业概况（尼日利亚在空气中种植农作物）

A group of farmers in Nigeria is using a technology-based method to grow crops from moisture in the air.

尼日利亚的一群农民正在使用新科技，能利用空气中的湿气种植作物。

The method, known as aeroponics, does not involve soil. Instead, plant roots hang in the air. The roots take in a nutrient solution from a watery mist.

这种方法被称为气孔法，不使用土壤。相反，植物的根悬在空气中。根从水雾中吸收营养液。

Aeroponics is not well-known in Nigeria, but farmers there are working to make the technique more popular.

气孔法在尼日利亚并非众所周知，但那里的农民正在努力使这项技术更受欢迎。

The technique could make a big difference in places like the city of Abeokuta. Violence and desertification -- the process by which fertile land becomes desert -- have made huge amounts of land unfarmable.

这项技术给Abeokuta这样的城市带来巨大的改变，因为暴乱和沙漠化使得大量的土地不能耕种。

Biochemist Samson Ogbole is popularly known as Nigeria's smart farmer. He and his team are growing crops without soil at the technology-based farm they started three years ago in Abeokuta.

生化学家Samson Ogbole被普遍认为是一位富有智慧的尼日利亚农民。三年前他和他的团队在Abeokuta的科技农场开始种植不需要土壤介质的农作物。

Ending food scarcity 结束食物短缺

Ogbole say they are on a campaign to end seasonal food scarcity in Nigeria.

Ogbole表示，他们正在开展一项运动，以结束尼日利亚的季节性食物短缺。

"Because we are the ones controlling everything that the plant requires, we are not depending on seasons. So it's no longer seasonal farming. It is just farming anytime of the year, meaning you can plant anytime of the year, we can harvest anytime of the year."

因为我们控制植物生长所需的一切，不依赖于季节。所以它不再是季节性的农业。可以一年中随时耕种，这意味着你可以在一年中的任何时候种植，也就可以在一年中的任何时候收获。“

But setting up the aeroponic farm was not easy. It required financing of more than $180,000, Ogbole said. And, some people in Abeokuta were very much against this non-traditional method of farming.

但是设立空气农场并不容易。Ogbole说，它需要超过18万美元的投资。而且，Abeokuta的一些人非常反对这种非传统的耕作方法。

"We were called wizards, demons, that we are doing something unnatural."

我们被称为巫师，恶魔，他们认为我们在做一些不符合自然的事情。”

He added that it took a lot of effort to change people's minds about aeroponics.

他补充说，要改变人们对航空电子设备的看法，需要付出很多努力。

Farming difficulties 耕种困难

In Nigeria, about 30 million hectares of farmland is being used, instead of the 78.5 million hectares required for food security.

在尼日利亚大约有3000万亩土地被用于耕种，而保证食物充足则需要7850万亩土地。

In the north, communal conflict, militancy and desertification are the top reasons the farmland is being lost. And only 49 percent of the land is fertile, a situation that worries traditional farmers like Abubakar Ibrahim.

在北方，地方冲突，军事斗争和沙漠化是农田丧失的主要原因。而且只有49%的土地是肥沃的，这一状况让像Abubakar Ibrahim这样的传统农民感到担忧。

"I don't have any other place that I'll go to farm apart from here," he said. "And here, already the land has become weak."

“除了这里，我没有其他可以去的农场，”他说。“但是这里，土地已经变贫瘠了。”

No land needed 无需土壤

Aeroponics, however, does not require traditional farm work or much land. Nutrients for the plants are controlled by a recycling system, greatly increasing productivity.

然而，空气种植并不需要传统农业那样劳作和大量的土地。植物所需的营养成分由循环系统控制，极大地提高了生产力。

Philip Ojo is director general of Nigeria's National Agricultural Seeds Council. He says the government welcomes new farming methods. Philip Ojo是尼日利亚国家农业种子委员会(National Agriculture Seed Council)的总干事。他说政府欢迎新的耕作方法。

Ojo noted that with aeroponics, farmers can quickly increase planting materials, especially when using the method on root vegetables such as cassava and yam. So, his group strongly supports the technology.

Ojo指出，有了空气种植，农民可以迅速增加产量，特别是在木薯和山药等根茎蔬菜上使用这种方法时。因此，他的团队大力支持这项技术。

The agricultural industry represents about 40 percent of Nigeria's economy. The government wants to greatly expand this percentage.

农业占尼日利亚经济的百分之四十左右。政府希望大幅扩大这一比例。

For now, most farmers lack the technical knowledge to increase productivity. They also need access to high-quality seeds to guarantee better harvests.

目前，大多数农民缺乏提高生产力的技术知识。他们还需要获得高质量的种子以保证更好的收成。

Technologically skilled farmers like Samson Ogbole are offering a new way forward.

像Samson Ogbole这样被科技武装了的新型农民正在提供一种新的前进道路。