Watermelons explode like landmines

[Tank]

Fields of watermelons have been exploding like landmines in China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather.

About 20 farmers around Danyang city in Jiangsu province were affected, losing up to 115 acres of melons.

Prices over the past year prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market. All of those with exploding melons apparently were first-time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron, although it has been widely available for some time, said China Central Television.

http://news.uk.msn.com/odd-news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=157578222

:shock::huh::mrgreen:

[DemonGeminiX]

Video. I wanna see it. Somebody find it. Please.

:lol:

[Deepsepia]

Fantastic story . . . I saw this and loved it.

moral of the story: you really don't want to eat Chinese produce!

from the Guardian

The flying pips, shattered shells and wet shrapnel still haunt farmer Liu Mingsuo after an effort to chemically boost his fruit crop went spectacularly wrong.

Fields of watermelons exploded when he and other agricultural workers in eastern China mistakenly applied forchlorfenuron, a growth accelerator. The incident has become a focus of a Chinese media drive to expose the lax farming practices, shortcuts and excessive use of fertiliser behind a rash of food safety scandals.

It follows discoveries of the heavy metal cadmium in rice, toxic melamine in milk, arsenic in soy sauce, bleach in mushrooms, and the detergent borax in pork, added to make it resemble beef.

Compared to such cases of dangerous contamination, Liu's transgression was minor, but it has gained notoriety after being picked up by the state broadcaster, CCTV. The broadcaster blamed the bursting of the fruit on the legal chemical forchlorfenuron, which stimulates cell separation but often leaves melons misshapen and turns the seeds white.

The report said the farmers sprayed the fruit too late in the season and during wet conditions, which caused the melons to explode like "landmines". After losing three hectares (eight acres), Liu said he was unable to sleep because he could not shake the image of the fruit bursting. "On 7 May, I came out and counted 80 [burst watermelons] but by the afternoon it was 100," he said. "Two days later I didn't bother to count any more." About 20 farmers and 45 hectares around Danyang were affected. The fruit could not be sold and was instead fed to fish and pigs.

Farmers claim forchlorfenuron can bring the harvest forward by two weeks and increase the size and price of the fruit by more than 20%. Agricultural experts say forchlorfenuron has been widely used in China since the 1980s. Some said it was unsuitable for this fruit, but there was probably little health risk.

"In general we don't suggest chemicals with plant hormones be used on watermelons, as they are very sensitive. They might end up looking very strange and people will not want to buy them," said Cui Jian, director of the vegetable research institute at Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Science. "The taste won't be as good and storage is more difficult, but it should not harm anyone's health."


full story at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/17/exploding-watermelons-chinese-farming

[Muddy]

Deep, If I see China on the label at the grocery store then it doesn't go in the cart...

[Acid Trip]

Did you all see the pictures of the exploded watermelons? The inside didn't look right at all. It was a weird white color and didn't look like it had any fluid left inside.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Did you all see the pictures of the exploded watermelons? The inside didn't look right at all. It was a weird white color and didn't look like it had any fluid left inside.

:puke:

[Deepsepia]

Deep, If I see China on the label at the grocery store then it doesn't go in the cart...

A good call. They're faking "organic" stuff too . . . I saw an article on Chinese stuff showing up at Whole Foods and places like that: "Sure its 'organic', if we lie about it"

[Acid Trip]

:puke:

Here's a pic for you. That shit just does NOT look right.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/weird-news/2011/05/18/chinese-farmers-warned-beware-exploding-melons-86908-23138406/

[Muddy]

I friggin despise chemicals in food...