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From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
Tea farmers in Kenya are suffering because of low prices for their crop this year. So they have exchanged their tea bushes for a healthy, new purple tea that they hope will sell for a higher price. But there may not be a demand for the new kind of tea.
肯尼亚茶农因为作物价格低而深受其苦。所以他们将茶树改成了另一种新的健康的紫茶。他们希望这种新茶能卖出更高的价格。但是这种新品种茶叶可能缺乏市场需求。
Agricultural workers in green tea fields near Mt. Kenya are gathering the tea leaves. It is beautiful to see. The rows of tea bushes are straight. All appears to be well. But the farmers who planted the bushes are worried.
在肯尼亚山附近的绿茶园里，农工们正在采摘茶叶。茶园看上去很漂亮，一行行茶树笔直延伸。一切似乎都很好。但是种茶的农民们却在担心。
Nelson Kibara is one of them. He has been growing tea in the Kerugoya area for 40 years. He says the prices this year have been so low that he has made almost no profit. He says he must grow different kinds of tea if he is to survive.
尼尔森·基巴拉（Nelson Kibara）就是其中一个。他在Kerugoya地区种了40年的茶。他说今年的价格一直都很低，他几乎没赚到钱。为了生存，他不得不改种其它茶叶品种。
Mr. Kibara and hundreds of other farmers have been removing some of their tea bushes and planting a new kind of tea developed by the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya. Its leaves are purple and brown. When the tea is boiled the drink has a purple color.
基巴拉等数百位农民一直在挖出他们的茶树，并栽种由肯尼亚茶研究基地研发的一种新茶。这种茶的叶子是紫棕色，煮后茶水呈紫色。
Medical researchers have studied the health benefits of the new tea. They say it is healthier than black tea and could be sold for a price that is three to four times higher than the price of black tea.
医学研究人员已经研究了这种新茶的保健功效。他们说这种紫茶比红茶更健康，价格能卖到红茶的三四倍。
But Mr. Kibara says he has not received a higher price for his purple tea crop. He says the market for the tea is unstable. And he is often forced to sell his purple tea for the same price as green tea leaves. He says there are not enough buyers willing to pay more for the purple tea than black tea.
但是基巴拉先生表示，他的紫茶尚未卖出更高的价格。他说，这种茶叶的市场需求不稳定，他常常被迫以绿茶价格出售这种紫茶。他说，没什么顾客愿意为这种紫茶掏更高价钱。
The Kenya Tea Development Agency(KTDA) represents small farmers. It says farmers have planted purple tea before a market has been created for it. Vincent Mwingirwa works at the agency.
肯尼亚茶叶发展局是小农阶级的代表。该局表示，农民们还没开拓出紫茶市场就已经开始种植紫茶。文森特·文杰德瓦（Vincent Mwingirwa）在该局工作。
"What has happened is that purple tea has been developed for the farm. Unfortunately, there was not concurrent research on the market for purple tea. So we are now in a scenario where some of our farmers have planted purple tea, but they do not know where to take it," said Mwingirwa.
他说，“事实就是，紫茶是为农场研发的。而不幸的是，与此同时没有对紫茶市场进行调查。所以我们现在正处于这样一种局面：我们的一些农民已经种了紫茶，市场却不知道在哪。”
Stephen Mutembei works at the Tea Research Foundation. He says farmers quickly changed from growing black tea to growing purple tea. But he also blames tea leaf processors for not making changes more quickly.
斯蒂芬·穆特贝（Stephen Mutembei）就职于茶叶研究基金会。他说，茶农们迅速从种红茶改种紫茶。但他也指责茶叶加工商未能更快转变。
But Mr. Mutembei says purple tea is an important crop for the country and its tea farmers. He says Kenya needs to find new products like purple tea to help its tea industry become more stable. Tea is the country's top crop.
但是穆特贝先生表示，紫茶对肯尼亚以及该国茶农来说是一种重要作物。他说，肯尼亚需要找到类似紫茶的新产品来帮助该国的茶叶产业变得更加稳定。
Mr. Mutembei says the country's economy is too closely linked to the changing price of black tea. He says tea buyers and drinkers must be persuaded that they should pay more for purple tea than black tea.
穆特贝说，该国的经济同红茶价格变化联系过于紧密。他说，必须说服茶叶买家和饮茶者为紫茶掏更高价钱。
And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report. I'm Caty Weaver.
以上就是本期美国之音慢速英语农业报道的全部内容。我是卡蒂·韦弗（Caty Weaver）。
本栏目视频字幕与文本并不完全对应，且视频播放缓冲时间较长，敬请谅解！
