VOA慢速英语:Prawns and Tobacco Find a Home Together on Some Farms

A cash crop is a crop grown for money. Four hundred years ago the first cash crop for European colonists in North America was tobacco. American Indians were already growing it. Then in sixteen twelve an Englishman named John Rolfe found it would "grow well in Virginia and sell profitably in England," says tobacco.org.
经济作物是指为了金钱而种植的作物。400年前欧洲殖民者在北美的的第一种经济作物是烟草。美洲印第安人已经在种植烟草，然而，在1612年一个名为John Rolfe的英国人发现了它可以“在弗吉尼亚州种植，并在英国出售盈利，”tobacco.org网站这样报道。

But tobacco kills millions every year. Farmers face increasing government restrictions on tobacco use. They also face less demand from developed countries and more competition from developing ones.
但是，烟草每年导致数百万人死亡。烟农面临着政府对烟草日益厌憎的限制，他们还面临着发达国家烟草需求的减少和发展中国家更大的竞争。

Some farmers now grow niche crops instead of or in addition to tobacco. Niche crops are aimed at a particular market, but choosing what to plant can be difficult. Professor Tony Johnston at Middle Tennessee State University says most tobacco farms are relatively small.
现在一些农民改种利基作物来取代烟草或两者同时种植。利基作物针对特定的市场，但是选择种植什么可能也是一个难题。中田纳西州立大学的Tony Johnston教授称，大多数烟草农场规模都比较小。

TONY JOHNSTON: "The big issue for all the tobacco growing states is to find those small crops, those niche crops that would provide enough cash flow with fairly similar amounts of area on which you plant your crops."
TONY JOHNSTON：“对于种植烟草的州来说，最大的问题是找到这些在种植面积同等情况下可以提供足够现金流的利基作物。”

Some tobacco farmers have chosen to raise prawns, or freshwater shrimp. This kind of shellfish is used in different foods and often served cold in what Americans call shrimp cocktails. The British call them prawn cocktails.
一些烟农选择了养殖对虾，或青虾。这种贝类用于各种不同食物中，也经常用于美国人所说的开胃虾仁沙拉。英国人称之为明虾沙拉。
 
Tennessee farmer Jane Corbin says she got into this aquaculture business almost by accident.
美国田纳西州的农民Jane Corbin说，她是偶然进入到水产养殖生意。

JANE CORBIN: "I had never met anyone who had done this and I'd never seen a freshwater prawn. But I had read about it and I just thought it sounded interesting."
JANE CORBIN：“我从未见过任何水产养殖者，也从未见过一条淡水虾。但是我有读过相关文章，我只是觉得这听起来很有意思。”

On a recent weekend, Jane Corbin and her sons harvested tobacco and prawns from the same field. The prawns grew for five months in a pond. The Corbins also raise cattle along with flowers, vegetables and other crops.
在最近的一个周末，Jane Corbin和她的儿子从同一片地里收获了烟草和对虾。这些虾在池塘里养殖了5个月。Corbin一家还养殖牛，以及种植花卉、蔬菜和其它作物。

Jane Corbin got into aquaculture in the late nineteen nineties. Other tobacco farmers in the American South gave it a try because state and federal agencies were encouraging a change.
Jane Corbin在上世纪九十年代末期进入水产养殖业。美国南部的其他烟农也因为州政府和联邦机构鼓励他们改变而做出尝试。

JANE CORBIN: "It was advertised as an alternative to your tobacco crop as far as your income was concerned. That did not ring true. That wasn't why I got into it, of course, but a lot of people did and they saw that that was not a fact."
JANE CORBIN：“它被标榜为烟草作物收入的替代品。但并非全是如此。这不是我进入水产养殖的原因。当然，很多人是因为这个进入水产养殖做到也看到这些，这不是事实。”

Still, Professor Johnston says tobacco farmers are realizing they cannot depend on a single crop. The niche crops that seem to enjoy the most success, he says, are those that get consumers to visit the farm. Jee Jayme has bought prawns from the Corbins for years and enjoys helping with the harvest.
尽管如此，Johnston教授说，烟农意识到他们不能依靠单一作物。看上去在利基作物上获得最大成功的是那些让消费者参观农场的人。Jee Jayme从Corbin家买虾，并乐于帮助他们收获。

JEE JAYME: "It's their kindness and their genuine spirit that I keep on coming back here. And more especially, it's from here in the U.S., not from China or some other foreign country, but it's more here in Tennessee."
JEE JAYME：“他们的善良和真诚让我继续回到这里。尤其是这些虾来自美国田纳西州，而不是来自中国或其它国家。”