Lancaster researchers are teaming up with their Chinese counterparts to help meet the growing challenge of feeding the world.

如何养活世界，兰卡斯特的研究人员同中国的合作伙伴正一同面对这个与日俱增的挑战。

The University has received a £1.33m Research Council UK Science Bridge award to improve UK innovation links with China to addresses perhaps the greatest challenge facing humankind.

兰卡斯特大学已经获得来自英国研究理事会-科学桥项目的133万英镑拨款，用于提高英国同中国合作讨论或许是世界上人类所面临的最大挑战。

Feeding a world population approaching seven billion against a background of growing concern over our planet's capacity to adapt to a changing climate is a tall order. Climate change predictions show that rising global surface temperatures coupled with significant changes in rain fall intensity are likely to lead to serious droughts and more frequent flooding. This in turn will threaten food production and safe water supplies.

在地球的承载力如何适应全球气候变化的背景下，养活接近70亿的世界人口是一项难以完成的工作。气候变迁方面的预测表明，全球表面温度上升连同降雨强度显著变化有可能导致一系列的干旱和更频繁的洪涝，这继而威胁食物生产和水资源供应的安全。

Professor Bill Davies of Lancaster University’s Lancaster Environment Centre is leading the three year research programme – Water availability and quality: natural environments, domestic use and food production (WaterSci) - which will tackle some of these problems.

兰卡斯特大学环境中心的教授，Bill Davies 先生正领导一个为期三年的研究项目“水的利用和质量：自然环境、国内使用和食品生产（WaterSci）”，这个项目将会给我们带来一些福音。

He said: “A secure water supply is vital not only for drinking water but also for agriculture, to ensure a reliable, stable source of food. Now, possibly more than at any time in the past, is there a need for innovation to ensure we can successfully meet this global challenge.

他说：“不仅关系到饮水，稳定的水供应对农业提供稳定可靠的食物来源也至关重要。当前，或许比以往任何时候，都迫切的需要创新来保证我们能够面对这项全球性的挑战。

“We have a strong track record of collaborative work with researchers in China – one of the countries which has been most affected by water shortage in agriculture and the WaterSci team brings to together world-leading scientists in the field of sustainable water management.

“我们同中国研究者有很强的合作背景，他们来自一个农业深受水资源短缺影响的国度。在水资源的可持续管理方面，WaterSci项目组将该领域的世界领先科学家们集中在一起。

“We need innovation in many areas to enable us to use water more efficiently in agriculture from more intelligent irrigation systems to better use of waste water. The technology is emerging – we need to capitalise on that progress.”

“我们需要在农业的多个领域创新，以使得我们能够更有效的利用水资源，这些领域包括智能程度更高的灌溉系统和更好的再利用污水。新的技术正在形成，但是我们需要资金充实该项目。”

Lancaster’s Partners in China include leading scientists at: China Agricultural University, Nanjing University, North West Agricultural and Forestry University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

兰卡斯特在中国的领先科学家合作伙伴来自：中国科学院、中国农业大学、南京大学、和西北农林科技大学

Dr Mark Bacon, Director of Enterprise and Business Partnerships at the Lancaster Environment Centre, said: "Lancaster's leadership of the China-Bridge project demonstrates how we can bring together the excellence of our science with our capacity to deliver new innovations into UK and global business and in doing so contribute to Lancaster's standing as a truly international University."

兰卡斯特环境中心企业和商业合作部主任，Mark Bacon博士：“兰卡斯特在中国桥项目(WaterSci)中的领导展示了我们将科学的卓越和创新的运用结合在一起的能力，这些在英国和全球商业市场上的创新同时也有助于兰卡斯特大学成为一所正真意义的国际性大学。

One of the partners in the project, Professor Kang Shaozhong, Director of Centre for Agricultural Water Research in China at China Agricultural University said: “Water shortage is an important limiting factor in crop production especially in the arid areas of Northwest China. Efficient water use is a great issue to ensure the food security of 1.3 billion Chinese people. We believe that a Sino-UK partnership in Water Science can add value by exploiting complementary strengths in our research communities. The partners all have significant strengths to bring to the collaboration which should impact significantly in both our countries.”

项目合作伙伴之一，中国农业大学中国农业水问题研究中心主任康绍忠教授：“农作物生长，特别是在中国西北部干旱地区，水资源短缺是一个重要的制约因素。水资源的高效利用是保障13亿中国人食物安全的关键。我们相信通过发掘互补优势，中英在水资源科学方面的合作大有作为。参与双方具有显著的优势进行合作，两国都将从中获益匪浅。”

The award is part of a £12 million RCUK funding package for collaborations between British universities and institutions in China, India and the US.