TED演讲：从水稻开始的绿色未来

Jim Whitaker: I grew up on a family farm.

吉姆·惠特克：我在一个家庭农场长大。

My family's been farming for 130 years in southeast Arkansas, and I'm a fifth generation farmer.

我家在阿肯色州东南部务农已经有130年了，而我是第五代农民。

We raise cotton, rice, corn and soybeans, along with my brother Sam, our extended families and a lot of great coworkers, could not do it without them.

我们种植棉花、水稻、玉米和大豆，我和我的哥哥山姆一起耕作，和我的大家族、以及许多伟大的同事，他们缺一不可。

So when I was 16 years old, I came home from school one day.

所以当我16岁的时候，有一天我放学回家。

It was my dad's birthday.

那天是我爸爸的生日。

My birthday was three days later.

我的生日是三天后。

I expected in some type of party event.

我期待会有一些生日派对。

But my dad had just went through the historic 1980 drought, and when I got home that day, my mom was crying, my dad was trying to console her,

但我爸爸刚经历了1980年史无前例的干旱。当我回家时，我妈妈正在哭，我爸爸试图安慰她，

and there's a foreclosure letter on the bar.

而桌面上有一封止赎信。

We thought we were going to lose the family farm that we had had in our family for generations.

我们以为我们会失去我们家族世代拥有的家庭农场。

Luckily, we did not lose the farm, but he still struggled financially.

幸运的是，我们没有失去它，但农场的经营仍有经济困难。

When I was 22 years old, after a little time in the army, I decided I was going to start farming.

当我22岁，服了一段时间兵役后，我决定要开始务农。

So my brother and I rented a farm.

于是我哥哥和我租了一个农场，

My dad couldn't help us, he didn't have the finances.

我爸爸不能帮我们，他没有足够的资金。

He could not help us get started.

他无法帮我们起步。

Farming is very capital-intensive business.

农业是一个资本密集的产业。

And so we got an FHA beginning farmer loan.

所以我们申请了联邦住宅管理局的初级农民贷款。

And let me tell you something about renting a farm when you're 22 years old.

告诉你们一个事实，如果你22岁时想租农场，

No one rents you a farm unless no one else wants to rent it.

没有人会租给你，除非别人都不想租那农场。

It was a big piece of land, it was cash rent.

那块土地很大，租金要付现。

I mean, the stakes were set.

赌注已经投下，

We were doomed to fail.

而我们注定失败。

And we weren't focused on environmental sustainability back then.

当时我们并不关注环境的可持续性。

We were focused on economic sustainability.

我们关注的是经济的可持续性。

How do we make higher yield, how do we use less fertilizer?

我们如何获得更高的产量，如何使用更少的化肥？

How do we get to the next year and feed our family?

我们要怎样撑到下一年，让家人有饭吃？

And ...

然后……

It happens that economic and environmental sustainability go hand in hand along with social sustainability.

我们发现其实经济和环境的可持续性与社会的可持续性是可以齐头并进的。

As we used less fertilizer, used less water, our yields started going up.

当我们施用较少的肥料、较少的水，我们的产量开始增加。

It was just a great thing.

这是一件很棒的事情。

So one of the first things we did on our rice fields, we adopted a technique that's a little different.

我们的稻田首要事务之一，我们采用了不太一样的技术，

We leveled our fields completely flat.

让耕地变得完全平坦，

This is called zero-grade.

我们称之为零级耕地。

Rice all over the world is grown in a flooded environment.

世界各地的稻米都栽种在水田里，

Everywhere.

各地都是如此。

And most people use the natural contour of the Earth to cascade the water down and let the water flow downhill.

大多数农民利用地形的自然轮廓，引水下流至山脚。

And there are always, we call it continuous flood.

而且他们总是用我们称之为连续灌溉的方式，

They continuously put water on their fields.

不断地往耕地注水。

And we leveled ours flat with a perimeter road.

我们则整平耕地，围着一条周界路，

And what that perimeter road lets us do is capture rainfall.

我们用这条周界路储蓄降水。

So we actually pump less water, we are able to use less water, we have less runoff, less erosion, less nutrients leaving our field.

因此，实际更少抽水、用水量少、径流更少，侵蚀更少、营养流失也更少。

Nothing leaves our field unless we want it to.

我们可以把需要的东西保留在我们的耕地中。

So I get around farmers and I tell them about potential carbon credits and other things, and our family was lucky,

所以我跟其他农民说，这个方法可以赚取碳信用额什么的，我们的家人很幸运，

we were one of the first ever in the world to sell agricultural carbon credits in 2016 to Microsoft using this protocol that we've designed on rice.

在2016年，我们是世界上第一个将农业碳额度销售给微软的农场，使用的正是这套为稻米设计的方案。

And I got that -- Let me just back up a little bit and tell you how I got that.

而我明白了，容我说明一下，我是怎么明白的。

I didn't get that on my own.

我不只是依靠自己，

I met two very instrumental people.

我遇到了两位启发我的人，

One was Dr. Merle Anders.

其中一个是梅尔·安德斯博士。

He is the world-renowned greenhouse gas expert, and he started mentoring me.

他是世界著名的温室气体专家，他曾指导过我。

The other was a buyer from Mars Foods, and we were in a leadership class together.

另一位是来自玛氏食品的买家，我们一起参加了领袖课程。

And we started talking and we started thinking about sustainability.

我们在课程中开始讨论，开始思考永续发展。

So that's how my journey started.

我的旅程就是这样开始的。

But you know, when I tell other farmers that they could potentially sell carbon credit, they could help companies reduce their scope 3 emissions,

但是你知道，当我告诉其他农民他们可以出售碳信用额度、帮助企业减少范畴三排放，

they could save money, possibly enroll in environmental climate-smart practices for the government, they say, "I'm just trying to get by."

他们可以省钱，还可能注册成为政府的气候智能型农业，他们说，“我只想能过活就好。”

Farming is a generational business.

农业是一个世代的事业。

People have been doing things, passed down father to son, father to son.

人们世代传承，父传子，子传孙。

And you'll see, father to daughter, here in a minute.

马上你会看到，父亲传给女儿。

It's passed down generationally, and we only get one chance a year to make a mistake.

这是代代相传的，我们一年只有一次犯错的机会。

So when you tell people about doing things that are outside their norm, it scares the heck out of them.

因此，当你要农民做超出常规的事情时，他们会很害怕。

So I found a different way of talking to them about it.

因此，我用另一种方式和他们讨论。

I say, "Well, you know, you could save 40 to 50 dollars on your pumping cost.

我说，“你的抽水成本可以省大概40至50美元，

You could sell a carbon credit.

你可以卖出碳信用额，

You could get paid more by a company for doing the right thing."

因为做了正确的事情，你可以从企业获得更多的报酬。”

This starts to pique their interest.

这开始引起他们的兴趣。

Risk mitigation is how we're going to get farmers involved.

降低风险是我们吸引农民参与的方式。

We are a for-profit industry, so they're not going to do anything that they think hurts their yields.

农业是一个讲求利润的产业，因此他们不会做任何他们认为会损害产量的事情。

So Jessica, went to college, got a business degree, a sustainability minor, went on to get her MBA, emphasis on finance.

所以杰西卡去读大学，修得商管学位以及永续发展辅修学位，并继续研读金融方向的工商管理硕士，

Now she's back helping me.

现在她回来帮我，

Not all the time on the family farm.

虽然不是一直待在农场。

She works for Ducks Unlimited, one of the most aggressive conservationists in the rice industry.

她在Ducks Unlimited工作，他们是稻米业最激进的保护主义者之一，

They are an awesome partner to work with.

也是一个很棒的合作伙伴。

She's back working with Ducks Unlimited, but she's been helping me with protocols and data collection.

杰西卡一边与Ducks Unlimited合作，一边帮助我推进方案设计和进行数据收集。

One of the things that I wanted to figure out was, number one: What's important?

我想弄清楚的事是：第一，重要的是哪些事？

How are we going to quantify it?

我们要如何量化？

And then how are we going to sell that data?

我们要如何推销这些数据？

Because everyone here wants to know, "Can we have your data?"

因为这里的每个人都想知道，“我们能得到你们的数据吗？”

No, you can't.

不，你不能。

Anyway, so we're trying to figure out how to quantify that.

我们正在思考如何量化它，

So we established what is called the Smart Rice protocol.

因此，我们建立了所谓的智能米方案。

We partner with a global seed company, RiceTec, and we have one of the first ever -- there's a couple more -- I promise you it's the most rigorous,

我们与一家全球种子公司Rice Tec合作，我们是有史以来第一家——当然还有其他几家——程序十分严格，

but we have one of the first ever third-party verified, sustainable rice packages that hit the market a few months ago,

我们推出第一个经过第三方验证的袋装永续米，在几个月前上市，

and we're trying to get in retail locations.

我们正在尝试销售给零售商。

And then we're also helping some major end users with their scope 3.

这样，我们可以帮助一些主要的终端用户减少范畴三排放。

And I think that's going to be the future.

我认为这是未来的大势所趋。

But Jessica's role in growing rice is much different than mine, and she's part of the next generation to come take over our family farm.

而杰西卡，她在农场中扮演的角色和我有所不同，她是下一代接管我们农场的一份子。

Jessica Whitaker Allen: I'm a sixth generation farmer.

杰西卡·惠特克·艾伦：我是第六代农民。

Growing up, I remember running around outside barefoot, catching as many snakes, turtles, frogs as possible,

成长的过程中，我记得我在野外赤着脚乱跑，抓每一只我们看到的蛇、乌龟、青蛙，

and then trying to convince my parents to let me keep them inside as pets.

然后说服父母让我把它们留在家里当宠物。

Eventually, my dad bought me an aquarium,

后来，我爸爸给我买了一个水族箱，

and we had fun with that for a little while inside until a few of the snakes got lost in our house and we never found them.

我们把抓来的动物放在里面，玩得很开心，直到几条蛇在家里不见了，而我们再也没找到它们。

Sorry.

抱歉。

We live and work in southeast Arkansas.

我们在阿肯色州东南部生活和工作。

McGehee, specifically.

主要在麦基希。

Our town has 4,000 residents and one stoplight.

我们小镇有四千名居民，只有一个号志灯。

The nearest airport, Starbucks, shopping mall, Whole Foods, is two hours away in any direction.

最近的机场、星巴克、购物中心、全食超市，距离小镇至少有两个小时车程。

Without places like this and farmers like us, you'd be hungry, naked and sober.

如果没有像这样的农场和像我们这样的农民，你会没食物吃、没衣服穿、并因没酒喝而神智清醒。

I sometimes jokingly say that I have three, sometimes four full-time jobs, but I really have three or four full-time jobs.

有时我开玩笑说，我有三至四份全职工作，但我真的有三、四份全职工作。

My day job is as a conservation coordinator with Ducks Unlimited under the Rice Stewardship Partnership.

我的日常工作是在水稻管理合作组织里担任Ducks Unlimited的保育协调员。

I work alongside rice farmers to protect, restore and manage wetlands for waterfowl.

我与米农们一起工作，为水禽保护、复育和管理湿地。

Waterfowl spend a lot of time in rice fields, by the way.

顺便一提，水禽会在稻田中停留很久。

I'm also a wife, mother, and I do anything and everything I can for our family farm.

我也是一个妻子、妈妈，竭尽所能地为我们的家族农场做出贡献。

The last one doesn't pay the bills, but it's hard to say no to my dad.

最后这份工作没有薪水，但我很难对我爸爸说不。

So when he sent me an email about a grant he was interested in a little over a year ago, I got to work.

因此，一年前他寄给我一封电子信，说他对一个补助金申请感兴趣时，我就开始这份工作。

My dad releases the butterflies and I have to catch them.

我爸爸许愿，而我负责让愿望成真。

I have to figure out how to do what's going on, whatever is in his mind.

我必须弄清楚如何处理正在发生的事情，不管我爸爸想到什么点子。

He's the thinker, I'm the doer.

他是思想家，我是行动者。

This grant specifically was the USDA's partnerships for climate-smart commodities.

该补助金是源于美国农业部与气候智能型产品的合作。

I submitted a proposal on behalf of our farm, and it was successfully selected.

我代表我们的农场提交了一个提案并成功中选了。

We are going to work with farmers in southeast Arkansas to educate them about the benefits of growing sustainable rice.

我们将与阿肯色州东南部的农民合作，跟他们宣导种植永续稻米的好处。

We're going to work with veterans, immigrants, limited-resource and socially disadvantaged farmers.

我们将与退伍军人、移民、资源有限和社会弱势的农民合作，

Farmers that aren't so different from my family just a few generations ago.

这些农民与我几代前的家人并没有多么不同。

We will then implement pay-for-practices such as alternate wetting and drying, cover crop, no till and low till.

我们实施按实践支付报酬的方法，鼓励农民进行节水灌溉、种植覆土作物，免耕和少耕。

We will then help them learn about and document their greenhouse gas benefits.

我们帮助他们了解、记录这些方法的温室气体排放效益。

Monitor, measure, report and verify them.

监控、测量、报告、验证，

Then market and sell that rice, at a premium, to help them realize the benefits of producing sustainable rice.

然后以优惠的价格销售那些稻米作物，让他们体认到生产永续米的好处，

The economic advantage.

经济优势。

I'm a farmer, but not in the way you might think.

我是个农民，但不是你想的那样。

I don't drive the tractors, and I don't plant the rice.

我不开拖拉机，也不种水稻。

But I know how to take what my dad has learned and what he is doing and share that with others.

但我知道如何继承我爸爸学到的东西和他正在做的事情，并与他人分享。

I know how to interpret the data and see the reduction in inputs that has both an economic and an environmental impact.

我知道如何解释数据，并侦测到成本的减少——成本减少既有经济影响，也有环境影响。

I don't know if that alone is enough to stop climate change, but I'm surrounded by farmers that are doing everything they can to be more sustainable.

我不知道只有这样是否足以阻止气候变化，但我身边的农民，他们都竭尽所能为更好的永续发展而努力。

I think my brother and I will take over the farm someday if my dad lets us.

我想如果爸爸允许的话，我和我哥哥总有一天会接管农场的。

And hopefully when my son is old enough, I'll take him out on the farm and show him what I do.

希望当我的儿子长大后，我会带他去农场，让他看看我是做什么的。

I'll tell him he can go do whatever he wants to do, and hopefully one day I'll see him back on the farm, the seventh generation.

我会告诉他，他可以去做任何他想做的事，但我希望有一天，能见到他回到农场，作为第七代农民。

But for that to happen, we need a sustainable farming industry, one that rewards trailblazers and early adopters instead of penalizing them.

但是为了实现这一点，我们需要永续的农业，奖励开拓者和先行者，而不是惩罚他们。

Farmers like my family who are on the front lines of sustainable rice production.

像我家人一样的农民，他们站在永续水稻生产的最前线。

JW: So Jessica mentioned alternate wetting and drying.

吉姆：杰西卡提到了节水灌溉法。

And I think in my haste, I left it out.

我刚才忘了解释这点。

So let me tell you what it is.

容我说明。

It is when we flood a rice field continuously, like my dad taught us, we put four inches of water on it.

连续灌溉稻田时，像我爸爸教导的，我们在水田放4英吋厚的水。

We have an evaporation rate of about a quarter inch a day, so we have about 16 days of available water.

每天的蒸发率约为1/4英吋，所以我们大约有16天的水可用。

Rice is an anaerobic crop.

水稻是一种厌氧作物。

It's grown in flooded conditions.

它在浸水状态下生长。

When the soil starts to dry, the microbial community goes dormant, and the field stops emitting methane emissions.

土壤干燥时，微生物群落会进入休眠期，田地则停止排放甲烷。

Let me tell you why that's important.

让我告诉你为什么这很重要。

There are 400 million acres of rice grown globally.

全球有4亿英亩的水稻种植。

It is the largest emitter of methane gas.

它是最大的甲烷气体排放源。

It is the largest user of irrigation water, and our methods, if used, can reduce greenhouse gas by 50 percent, reduce water use by 50 percent,

它是最大的灌溉用水用户，如果使用我们的方法，可以减少50%的温室气体，减少50%的用水量，

increase yields to feed a hungry world.

提高产量，养活饥饿的世界。

JWA: If our protocols were adopted more widely, can you imagine the benefits?

杰西卡：如果我们的方案被广泛采用，你们能想像这些好处吗？

If you take care of the planet, it will take care of you.

如果你爱护地球，它也会爱护你。

That's true for farmers and for all of us.

对农民和我们所有人来说都是如此。

Farmers take care of consumers, take care of all of you every single day.

农民照顾着消费者，每天照顾所有人。

It's time for you to start taking care of farmers.

现在该你来照顾农民了。

Thank you.

谢谢。

JW: Thank you.

吉姆：谢谢。