联合国粮农组织在世界范围内评选出5个古老的农业作业，作为世界农业遗产进行保护。有着悠久历史的浙江青田县“稻鱼共生系统”，被联合国粮农组织列为“全球重要农业文化遗产”，这是亚洲唯一入选的一个农业项目，浙江青田田鱼由此名驰海内外。
　　
　　五彩斑斓“鱼美人”
　　田鱼有红、黑、白、花等多种颜色，五彩斑斓，十分好看，许多人称它为“鱼美人”。因为它生长在稻田里，游动时为了避免与稻丛碰撞，故身子练得特别轻巧，游姿极为优美。
　　田鱼属鲤鱼科，味道远胜一般的鲤鱼。因为青田灌溉稻田的水都是无污染的山泉，田鱼生长在稻田里吃的是稻花、稻虫，所以一身冰肌玉骨，肉细嫩爽口，鲜美无比，而且营养丰富。尤其难能可贵的是，它的鱼鳞可吃，而且特别柔软、香艳。所以，青田人在杀田鱼时都不刮鱼鳞。在农村，田鱼是招待客人的首选佳品，当地农民投资办起“农家乐”，还让游客自己动手喂田鱼、捕田鱼、烧田鱼。
　　鲜田鱼好吃，将它熏成田鱼干则更有风味。青田人在贵客临门时，炒粉干、烧面条，总要放上一两枚田鱼干。没有田鱼干，就让人觉得不够“档次”，就像当今城里有钱人请客要点龙虾或河蟹一样。青田田鱼在国外也很受青睐，在西班牙马德里，1斤田鱼干可卖到40欧元。
　　青田人还把田鱼作为吉祥物，盼望“年年有余（鱼）”、“鱼跳龙门”、“鱼水相亲”。不少地方甚至把田鱼当嫁妆，其用意是讨个吉利。无鱼不成宴，如今吃田鱼已成了青田民间风俗和饮食文化的一大特色。
　　
　　神话故事美丽动人
　　说起田鱼还有着非凡的来历，民间有这样的传说：很早以前一个名叫田农的青年到城里卖柴归来，路上从一个老头手里要来一条奄奄一息的鲤鱼。他把它带回家中养在水缸里给它疗伤。伤愈后，他正准备把它放回瓯江，那鱼却变成一个美貌姑娘，自许婚姻要嫁给他。不想结婚那天突然电闪雷鸣，半空中东海法龙宣布：小鲤鱼是东海龙王的外孙女，位列仙班，不能与凡人通婚。小龙女坚决不肯回去，说她要与田农相伴终生。法龙忍无可忍，便依法将她剥去龙皮，废掉法力，抛落在田农的水稻田里，从此它就变成了人间的一条小鲤鱼。
　　美丽动人的神话故事赋予了青田田鱼以神秘色彩，青田人喜欢它，爱它，把它作为忠贞爱情的象征，青田的文艺工作者还以田鱼为题材编了鱼灯舞，漂亮的鱼灯与海宁花灯、海盐滚灯共称为浙江“三灯”，成为民间舞蹈中的优秀节目。
　　
　　关于“稻鱼共生”，中科院一位农业专家分析道：在经济不发达的山区，稻田养鱼使农户既能获得维持生命的碳水化合物，又能获得一定的蛋白质营养。农田水稻可为田鱼提供荫凉和有机物质，而田鱼又可以为水稻提供氧气，消灭害虫，有益于养分循环，达到“增粮、增鱼、增肥、节水、节地、节成本”等多种效果。所以在农业中的稻田养鱼，对农户来说是一种特别合适的生产方式。有中国田鱼村之称的青田龙现村，村里女儿出嫁便有用田鱼作嫁妆的习俗，有的嫁妆鱼嫁去夫家养了十年、几十年不吃不卖，其中最老的一条鱼已经养了39年，重达15公斤。
　　
　　“吉祥天使”与“文化贵宾”
　　浙江青田稻田养鱼历史悠久，几乎与人类文明同步。河南安阳殷墟遗址出土的甲骨卜辞有“十一月，在圃渔”的记载，可见早在商代晚期，中国就开始池塘或稻田养鱼，而青田田鱼的历史，据《青田文物》一书记载早在夏商周时期（公元前21世纪至前256年），便有先民在瓯江边捕鱼、种田和养鱼，尔后便逐渐发展了稻田养鱼。青田田鱼被列为首批世界农业文化遗产保护项目后，青田县小舟山乡也立起了由著名经济学家费孝通题额的“中国田鱼村”花岗岩牌坊。当时村人让笔者给它配了一副对联：
　　
　　化龙布雨，永做五洲人吉祥天使；
　　造福于农，终成联合国文化贵宾。
　　
　　短短一年时间里，小舟山全乡稻田养鱼翻了一番，放养5000余亩，产量达到3万余公斤；青田全县养鱼也由5万亩增至10万亩，产值达4000多万元，这是世界文化遗产保护带来的初步成效。
　　
　　Rice-Fish Farming in Qingtian
　　By Li Qingbao
　　
　　
　　The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has named five ancient farming technologies worldwide as Globally Important Ingenious Agricultural Heritage Systems. The rice-fish farming developed in Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province is one of the five heritages and it is also Asia's only agricultural heritage system chosen by FAO.
　　The technology of raising carps in rice paddies has been in practice in Qingtian for more than a thousand years. Local historians trace fish farming in this part of the province back to the dawning of the Chinese civilization.
　　A scientist with the China Academy of Sciences notes that the system is very important in backward rural areas such as Qingtian. Raising fish in rice paddies enable farmers to harvest both carbohydrate and protein-rich food in the most cost-effective way. Rice paddies provide favorable habitats and organic food for fish while fish in turn generates extra oxygen to rice plants and wipes out pests. For mountain villagers in Qingtian, raising fish in rice paddies is a very suitable technique.
　　The carps living in rice paddies are special. They sport different colors. They look red, black or white. Some even display mixed colors. In order to avoid bumping into rice, they have developed a slender body and are able to swim in a very graceful way. For these reasons, the carp, though simply and aptly called“paddy fish”by local farmers and on domestic and international markets, are also poetically nicknamed “Beauty fish?
　　
　　And they taste delicious. Rice fields in Qingtian County are irrigated with water from mountain streams. Eating no man-made feeding stuff, the carps feed on insects in rice paddies. The environment ensures their tender and tasty meat. Another special thing about the carps is that their soft fish scales are an edible delicacy. Villagers there never remove scales when they prepare paddy carps for cooking. In rural Qingtian, paddy fishes are the first choice to entertain visiting friends and relatives. Nowadays, many farm restaurants in rural Qingtian offer tourists opportunities to catch carps from paddies and cook carps.
　　Local farmers also make dried paddy carps, which are a delicacy, too. Rural people regale visitors with dried paddy carps just as urban people treat their guests with crabs or lobsters. In Madrid, a kilo of dried paddy carps from Qingtian costs 40 Euros.
　　
　　Paddy fish is also regarded as something auspicious in Qingtian. Longxian Village maintains an age-old tradition: a good carp from a rice paddy constitutes part of a dowry. The oldest carp kept in the village came in 39 years ago and now weighs 15 kilograms. Just like legends that account for the origins of things people value, there is a myth that explains the origin of paddy carps in Qingtian. In celebration of the rice-fish farming tradition, local artists also have choreographed a fish lantern dance, which now counts as one of the three major lantern dances in the province.
　　Since the UN designation of the technology in 2005, more farmers in Qingtian have adopted the rice-fish farming system. In the county, the total area of rice paddies dedicated to the rice-fish system has doubled to 6,600 hectares, generating an annual income of 40 million for local farmers. (Translated by David)