Why is rice so popular? - Carolyn Beans

翻译人员: Jing Quan 校对人员: Siying Chen

If you were to place all the rice consumed each year on one side of a scale,

如果你将每年消费的大米量 放在天平的一侧，

and every person in the world on the other,

将世界上的人口放在另一边，

the scale would tip heavily towards rice's favor.

那么天平就会大大偏向于大米一侧。

This beloved crop contributes over 20% of the calories consumed by humans each year.

这种备受喜爱的作物贡献了人类 每年消耗的卡路里的 20 ％以上。

Korean bibimbap, Nigerian jollof, Indian biryani, Spanish paella,

韩式石锅拌饭、尼日利亚加罗夫饭、 印度香饭、西班牙海鲜饭

and countless other culinary masterpieces all begin with rice.

和无数其他烹饪杰作都有米饭的身影。

So how did this humble grain end up in so many cuisines?

那么，这种不起眼的谷物是 如何融入这么多美食中的呢？

The roots of rice go back thousands of years to when early farmers

水稻的起源可以追溯到几千年前

in Asia, Africa, and South America each independently domesticated the crop.

亚洲、非洲和南美的早期农民 各自独立驯化水稻的时候。

First came Asian rice,

首先是亚洲大米，

which many plant geneticists believe originated in what's now China.

许多植物遗传学家认为 它起源于现在的中国。

Over 10,000 years ago, nomadic hunters in the region

一万多年前，该地区的游牧猎人

began gathering and eating seeds from a weedy grass.

开始从杂草丛中采集和食用种子。

Then, around 9,000 years ago, they started planting these seeds,

然后，大约在 9,000 年前， 他们开始播种这些种子，

prompting nomadic hunters to settle into farming communities.

促使游牧猎人定居在农业社区。

With each harvest, growers selected and replanted seeds

每次收获时，种植者都会从最令他们

from the rice plants that pleased them most—

满意的水稻中挑选并重新种植种子，

like those with bigger and more plentiful grains or aromatic flavors.

例如谷物更，更丰富 或具有芳香味的种子。

Over millennia, thousands of varieties of Asian rice emerged.

几千年来，出现了数千种亚洲大米。

A relative of the same weedy grass was also domesticated in Africa

大约在 3000 年前， 非洲也驯化了

around 3,000 years ago.

同样的杂草的亲属。

Today, its growth is mostly limited to West Africa.

如今，其增长主要局限于西非。

South American growers also domesticated rice around 4,000 years ago,

南美的种植者也在 大约 4000 年前驯化了水稻，

though the crop was lost after the arrival of Europeans.

但欧洲人到来后收成就流失了。

Asian rice, however, spread widely,

但是，亚洲大米传播广泛，

and is now a cornerstone of diet and culture in Asia and beyond.

现在已成为亚洲及其他地区 饮食和文化的基石。

In India and Nepal, many Hindus mark an infant's transition to solid foods

在印度和尼泊尔，许多印度教徒会 纪念婴儿转为进食固体食物，

with a ceremony known as Annaprashan,

这种仪式名为安纳普拉尚。

where the baby tastes rice for the first time.

也就是婴儿第一次品尝大米。

in Japan, rice is so central to diets that the word "gohan"

在日本，大米是饮食的核心 ， “悟饭”一词

means both "cooked rice" and "meal."

意味着 “煮熟的米饭” 和 “膳食”。

The global expansion of rice cultivation was only possible

水稻种植的全球扩张之所以成为可能，

because the plant can grow in many climates—

是因为该植物可以 在许多气候中生长——

from tropical to temperate.

从热带到温带。

As a semi-aquatic plant, rice happily grows in submerged soils.

作为一种半水生植物， 水稻在水下的土壤中生长活跃。

Many other crops can't survive in standing water

许多其他作物无法在积水中生存，

because their root cells rely on air within soil to access oxygen.

因为它们的根细胞依赖 土壤中的空气来获取氧气。

But rice plants have air channels in their roots that allow oxygen to travel

但是水稻植物的根部有气腔，允许氧气

from the leaves and stems to the submerged tissues.

从叶子和茎传播到水下组织。

Traditionally, growers plant rice in paddy fields—

传统上，种植者在稻田里种植水稻——

flat land submerged under as much as 10 centimeters of water

整个生长季节， 水深可达 10 厘米的平地。

throughout the growing season.

This practice returns high yields since many competing weeds

这种方式非常高产， 因为许多相互竞争的杂草

can't hack it in the aquatic environment.

无法在水生环境中影响水稻。

But the technique is also water intensive.

但是该技术也需要大量用水。

Rice covers 11% of global cropland,

水稻覆盖了全球农田的 11 ％，

but uses over a third of the world's irrigation water.

但使用了世界三分之一 以上的灌溉用水。

This form of rice production also pumps out

这种形式的大米生产还排放出

a surprising amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

惊人的温室气体排放。

Flooded fields are the perfect breeding grounds for microorganisms

被洪水淹没的田地是甲烷原微生物的

known as methanogens.

理想繁殖地。

These microscopic lifeforms thrive in environments lacking oxygen,

这些微小生命体在 缺乏氧气的环境中茁壮成长，

because they evolved when the Earth contained little of this gas.

因为它们是在地球几乎 不含氧气时进化的。

Methanogens are the only organisms known to produce methane—

甲烷原是已知唯一能产生甲烷的生物，

a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide

甲烷是一种温室气体， 在大气中产生热量的能力

at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

是二氧化碳的25倍。

Cows, for example, are infamous for burping out methane

例如，奶牛的差评就是因其胃中

due to methanogens in their stomachs.

有能排除甲烷的甲烷原。

In a flooded paddy field, methanogens set to work eating away at organic material

在被洪水淹没的稻田里， 甲烷原会吞噬水下土壤中的有机物质

in the submerged soil and multiplying rapidly,

并迅速繁殖，

all the while releasing copious amounts of methane.

同时释放出大量的甲烷，

The result: rice cultivation contributes around 12%

结果：每年水稻种植排放量约占

of human-caused methane emissions each year.

人为甲烷排放量的 12％。

But there's good news.

但是有个好消息。

Rice doesn't actually need to grow in continuously flooded paddies.

水稻实际上并不需要在 持续被洪水淹没的稻田里生长。

Researchers and growers are exploring water management strategies

研究人员和种植者正在 探索水资源管理策略，

that can cut the methane while keeping the yield.

这些策略可以在保持 产量的同时减少甲烷。

One promising technique is known as alternate wetting and drying.

一种被看好的技术被称为干湿循环。

Growers periodically let the water level drop,

种植者定期让水位下降，

which keeps methanogen growth in check.

从而控制甲烷的生长。

Alternate wetting and drying can cut water use by 30%

干湿循环可以减少 30% 的用水量

and methane emissions by 30 to 70% without impacting yield.

和 30% 到 70% 的甲烷 排放但不影响产量。

Greenhouse gases come from many— sometimes unexpected— places.

温室气体来自许多有时 是意想不到的地方。

Making rice growing more sustainable is just one of the many challenges

提高水稻种植的可持续性 只是我们为避免灾难性变暖

we'll need to face to avoid catastrophic warming.

而需要面对的众多挑战之一。

Today, many rice growers still flood fields all season long.

今天，许多水稻种植者 仍在整季淹没田地。

Changing millennia-old practices requires a major mindset shift.

改变千禧一代的做法需要 重大的思维方式转变。

But going against the grain could be just what we need

但是，与谷物的周旋可能 正是我们维护地球健康

to keep our planet healthy and our bowls full.

和吃饱饭所需要的。