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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.

经济作物是指种植用来赚钱的作物。400年前在北美的欧洲殖民者的第一个经济作物是烟草。美洲印第安人已经在种植烟草，然后在1612年一个名叫约翰·罗尔夫（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网站如是说。

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.

但烟草每年导致数百万人死亡。烟农面临着政府在烟草使用上越来越多的限制，他们还面临着发达国家烟草需求的减少，以及来自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.

现在有些农民改种利基作物或将其作为烟草的补充。利基作物瞄准特定市场，但选择难于种植的作物。中田纳西州立大学的托尼·约翰斯顿（Tony Johnston）教授表示，多数烟草农场规模都比较小。

注：利基（niche）（商业用语）是指针对企业的优势细分出来的市场，这个市场不大，而且没有得到令人满意的服务。产品推进这个市场，有盈利的基础。在这里特指，针对性、专业性很强的产品。

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."

约翰斯顿：“烟草种植州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。这种介壳类水生动物应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.

田纳西州农民简·柯宾（Jane Corbin）表示，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."

柯宾：“我之前从没见过水产养殖者，从没见过淡水虾。但我看到了这个信息，我只是觉得这听上去不错。”

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.

最近的一个周末，柯宾和她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。柯宾一家还养殖牛，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.

上世纪九十年代末期柯宾进入水产养殖。美国南部的其他烟农也因为政府和联邦机构鼓励他们调整而做出尝试。

JANE CORBIN: "It was advertised as an alternative to your tobacco crop so 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 I saw that was not a fact."

柯宾：“就收入而言，它被标榜为烟草作物的替代品。这并不不是事实。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，我认为了那不是事实。”

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.

然而，约翰斯顿教授称，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从柯宾家买虾，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：“因为他们的善良和真诚，我一直回来这里。特别是这些虾来自美国田纳西州，而不是来自中国或其它国家。”