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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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Aquaponics is a new agricultural method |
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that combines growing vegetables and within fish. |
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The word aquaponics is also new, |
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it comes from aquaculture and hydroponics. |
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Aquaculture means fish farming, |
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and hydroponics means growing plants without soil. |
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Supporters of aquaponics say it is an efficient way |
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to produce high-quality healthful food. |
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However, it is yet unknown |
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if the method is an environmental |
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or financial improvement to traditional farming. |
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240 fish swimming in a container or tank |
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at Cylburn Aquaponics farm in Baltimore, Maryland. |
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Farm manager Laura Genello feeds them breakfast. |
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"Hey, guys." |
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The tank water is rich with fish waste, |
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it flows through a system that removes what is not wanted, |
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the water then flows into vegetable crops nearby. |
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The floating farm grows |
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about five to ten kilograms of produce a week. |
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Ms Genello expects to raise about 250 kilograms of fish a year. |
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Environmentalist like aquaponics because fishing |
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is threatening the exists of many wild species. |
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At least half of the world's food fish are raised in farms, |
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waste from all those fish causes pollution. |
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Dave Love is a researcher at Johns Hopkins University. |
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"There are fewer and fewer fish in the ocean |
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and more and more fish will be raised on farms. |
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The trick is, how do we do that responsibly, |
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sustainably and in ways that make fish farmers money?" |
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Ellen Perlman is an aquaponics farmer also near Baltimore. |
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She is growing lettuces and other vegetables |
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she says are hard to find in winter. |
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"They grow well in greenhouses in the winter, |
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and where also you gonna get a fresh red romaine, |
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and this is grown locally in a greenhouse |
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in the middle of the winter. " |
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However, the fish tanks need to be heated |
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when the temperatures fall, that costs money. |
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It is one reason Ms Perlman has not made a profit yet. |
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Back at Cylburn, Laura Genell notes that aquaponics still move. |
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She says parts of the system still need improvement. |
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And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Special English. |
