AGRICULTURE REPORT - Aquaculture

AGRICULTURE Report – October 22, 2002: Aquaculture

By Gary Garriott

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Aquaculture is the production of food through the controlled growth¹ and harvesting of plants and animals that
live in water. Using low-cost equipment and simple methods, aquaculture can supply more protein-rich foods
than traditional agriculture like farming².

One popular environment for aquaculture is small lakes or ponds surrounded by
land, away from the ocean. Fish such as carp and tilapia are produced in this way.

In most areas of the world, twenty-five percent of the fish pond must be at least
three meters deep. You can plant grass on the bottom of the pond. But you should
remove all trees from the bottom and sides of the pond in order to keep the level of
oxygen high enough for the fish. You should also remove all bushes³ and rocks. And
you should remove all trees within nine meters of the edge⁴ of the pond. This is so
that leaves will not fall into the pond. Leaves can use up a lot of oxygen that fish
need. You should place a pipe at the bottom of the pond big enough for all the water
to escape in about five days.

You can feed the fish many kinds of foods. These include cassava, sweet potatoes, banana and maize⁵. Other
foods include coffee and wastes from fruit-processing factories. Feed the fish only as much as they can eat in one
day.

You harvest the fish by opening the pipe and permitting⁶ some of the water to escape. Then the larger fish can be
caught by hand or with nets made from rope. There should be enough water left so that the smaller fish continue
to live in the pond.

You can harvest the fish at any time, but it is best done in cool weather. The pond can also be dried at this time if
necessary to fix any problems. Then the pond can be filled with water again and many new small fish can be
added⁷.

Aquaculture is popular around the world because there is usually no need for costly⁸ equipment. Also, you can
know ahead of time how many fish will be harvested. Bad weather does not usually affect the harvest. However,
good quality water is necessary and you must know how much of it is available at all times.

You can get more information about aquaculture from the group Volunteers in Technical Assistance⁹. You can
contact VITA through the Internet at its world wide web¹⁰ address w-w-w dot v-i-t-a dot o-r-g.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Gary Garriott.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version

1 growth   

n.生长，栽培

参考例句：

• All living things depend on the sun for their growth.万物靠太阳生长。
• Youth is the time of physical growth.青年时期是长身体的时期。

2 farming   

n.农事；耕作

参考例句：

• He lives by farming.他靠务农过活。
• He is farming in Africa.他在非洲经营农场。

3 bushes   

n.灌木（丛）( bush的名词复数 )；[机械学]（金属）衬套；[电学]（绝缘）套管；类似灌木的东西（尤指浓密的毛发或皮毛）

参考例句：

• There was someone skulking behind the bushes. 有人藏在灌木后面。
• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 edge   

n.边(缘)；刃；优势；v.侧着移动，徐徐移动

参考例句：

• Sight along the edge to see if it's straight.顺着边目测，看看直不直。
• She lived on the extreme edge of the forest.她住在森林的最边缘。

5 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

6 permitting   

允许( permit的现在分词 )； 许可

参考例句：

• We will go out for a walk, weather permitting. 如果天气好，我们就出去散散步。
• For her it was a special relationship, permitting intelligent exchanges. 对她来说，那是一种特殊的关系，可以用明智的方式进行角逐。

7 added   

adj.更多的，附加的，额外的

参考例句：

• They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
• The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 assistance   

n.援助，帮助

参考例句：

• She called and called but no one came to her assistance.她叫了又叫，但没有人来帮。
• He will get the great possible assistance.他将获得尽可能大的帮助。

10 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？