This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是VOA慢速英语农业报道。
Spring is the time when farmers in Haiti plant about sixty percent of their crops. But this spring is a struggle with disaster.
春天是海地农民种植大约60%农作物的时间，但是今年春天则是与灾难做斗争。
The January twelfth earthquake flattened much of Haiti's capital and surrounding areas. It left more than two hundred thousand people dead and about a million homeless.
1月12日的地震将海地首都及其周边夷为平地。地震造成超过20万人死亡，约100万无家可归。
International recovery plans include helping Haiti expand food production. But many farmers lost their tools in the quake. Landslides buried equipment.
国际重建方案包括帮助海地扩大粮食生产。但是，许多农民在地震中失去了他们的工具，农业设施为山体滑坡所掩埋。
And now seasonal rains do not make the situation any easier. The rains continue through May and June.
同时现在的雨季使局势更加困难，降雨将一直持续到5月和6月。
Many farmers need money for seeds and fertilizer. Sabine Wilke of the aid group CARE says many also lack the money to hire help to prepare the land.
许多农民需要钱来购买种子和化肥。一个名为CARE的援助组织的工作人员Sabine Wilke说，很多农民也没有足够的资金来雇人耕作土地。
SABINE WILKE: "For the planting, they also need local labor. And since they do not have enough money to hire people, the work will simply not be done."
SABINE WILKE说：“他们还需要当地的劳动力来耕种。由于他们没有足够的钱来雇人，这些工作根本无法进行。”
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says it has delivered tools and seeds to thousands of families in the earthquake area.
联合国粮农组织称，它已在地震灾区为数以千计的家庭发放工具和种子。
The quake was centered near Port-au-Prince. An estimated six hundred thousand people left for the countryside. Experts say it will be difficult to feed them. Food prices are high, and many people fled the capital with only the clothes they were wearing.
这次地震发生在太子港周围，估计有60万人逃往农村。专家说，这将很难养活他们。食品价格高，许多人逃离首都时除了穿着的衣服别无它物。
Gerald Murray at the University of Florida is an expert on Haiti. Professor Murray says many rural families have taken in relatives and friends who lost homes and jobs. "There may be enough to eat for a while," he says, "but before too long there may be hunger."
佛罗里达大学的Gerald Murray是一名在海地的专家。Murray教授说，许多农村家庭接收了失去家园和工作的亲朋好友。 “食物可能足够吃一阵子，”他说，“但持续太久就可能会有饥荒。”
Farming is about sixty percent of Haiti's economy. But most food comes from imports.
农业大约占海地经济的60%。但是，大多数食品来自进口。
Before the earthquake, the Haitian government and private groups were working to improve agriculture.
地震前，海地政府和民间团体一直致力于促进农业发展。
Deforestation has traditionally been a major problem for farmers. Few trees remain to protect soil from floods, droughts and severe storms.
砍伐森林是农民面临的一个由来已久的重要问题。只剩很少的树木来保持土壤免受洪水，干旱和暴风雨的威胁。
In the sixteen hundreds Haiti's French colonizers cleared forests to plant sugar cane. In the nineteen fifties, forests were cut down for wood and other products.
在17世纪海地的法国殖民者砍伐森林以种植甘蔗。20世纪50年代，森林被砍伐以提供木材和其他产品。
Poor technology and poor roads also reduced agricultural production. So did animal and plant diseases. Farmers moved to cities to do other work.
落后的技术和糟糕的交通也降低了农业产量，各种动植物疾病对此也有不利影响。农民转移到城市做其他工作。
Professor Murray says the average farm in Haiti measures about one or one and a half hectares. And the fields are commonly divided between level ground and a ountainside.
Murray教授说，海地的人均耕作制度面积为1到1.5公顷。这些土地通常划分为平地和坡地。