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It's a long way from this greenhouse in Queensland to the International Space Station
从昆士兰温室到国际空间站，这是一段遥远的距离，
but that's where the idea for "speed breeding" sprouted.
但“加速育种”的想法就是在这里萌生的。
What they were doing was they were growing the wheat under continuous light,
他们所做的是在连续光照下种植小麦，
so the plants didn't sleep and it tricked them into growing very fast
这样植物就不会进入睡眠状态，会让它们生长得非常快，
and we thought what a cool tool this might be to actually speed up our research and crop breeding here on planet earth.
我们认为这种方法很酷，它可以加速我们在地球的研究和育种时间。
The "speed breeding" technique uses LED lights continuously on in concentrated periods of 22 hours per day
这种“加速育种”技术是通过每天22小时的连续LED照明实现的，
triggering early reproduction in the plants.
使植物提早繁殖。
This allows the scientists to grow up to six generations of the plant a year
这使得科学家们一年能培育出六代植物，
instead of just one in the field or two to three in a normal greenhouse.
而不只是在田野里的一年一熟或者在普通温室中的一年两到三熟。
Well using "speed breeding", we can go from seed to seed in just six weeks for wheat, barley
通过“加速育种”，小麦和大麦六周就可以收成，
and it works for a whole bunch of other crops that we grow on big scale in Australia and other countries around the world like chickpea or canola.
更可以适用于澳洲或其它国家大规模生产的其它作物，比如鹰嘴豆或芥花。
That will allow the rapid advances in plant breeding that experts say are needed to increase crop yield to feed the world's growing population.
专家们说这将有助于提高作物产量，以养活世界上日益增长的人口。
Nine billion people, nine billion mouths to feed by 2050
到2050年将有九十亿人，九十亿人口需要养活，
and now crops that we're growing today aren't good enough to get the job done.
我们现阶段的育种技术不够完善，还不能完成这项工作。
So we need breakthroughs in genetics,
因此，我们需要在遗传学上有所突破，
we need to build these crops to be more productive under warmer climates, more variable droughts
我们需要在气候变暖，干旱多变的条件下增加作物产量，
and not to mention rapidly evolving pests and pathogens.
更不要说不断进化的害虫和病原体。
The Australian researchers outlined their "speed breeding" techniques in the journal Nature Plants
澳大利亚研究人员在《自然植物》杂志上概述了他们的“加速育种”技术，
sharing it with scientists and plant breeders around the world.
并与世界各地的科学家和植物育种者分享他们的看法。
I'm Faith Lapidus, VOA News.
VOA新闻，我是法斯·拉皮德斯。
