Watermelons have been bursting by the score in eastern China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather, creating what state media called fields of ``land mines.''
About 20 farmers around Danyang city in Jiangsu province were affected, losing up to 115 acres (45 hectares) of melon, China Central Television said in an investigative report.
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, though it has been widely available for some time, CCTV said in the report broadcast Monday night.
Chinese regulations don't forbid the drug, and it is allowed in the U.S. on kiwi fruit and grapes. But the report underscores how farmers in China are abusing both legal and illegal chemicals, with many farms misusing pesticides and fertilizers.
In this photo taken Friday May 13, 2011, farmers clear out watermelons that had bursted from their rented greenhouse in Danyang city in eastern China's Jiangsu province. (AP)
Wang Liangju, a professor with College of Horticulture at Nanjing Agricultural University who has been to Danyang since the problems began to occur, said that forchlorfenuron is safe and effective when used properly.
He told The Associated Press that the drug had been used too late into the season, and that recent heavy rain also raised the risk of the fruit cracking open. But he said the variety of melon also played a role.
``If it had been used on very young fruit, it wouldn't be a problem,'' Wang said. ``Another reason is that the melon they were planting is a thin-rind variety and these kind are actually nicknamed the 'exploding melon' because they tend to split.''
Farmer Liu Mingsuo ended up with eight acres (three hectares) of ruined fruit and told CCTV that seeing his crop splitting open was like a knife cutting his heart.
``On May 7, I came out and counted 80 (burst watermelons) but by the afternoon it was 100,'' Liu said. ``Two days later I didn't bother to count anymore.''
Intact watermelons were being sold at a wholesale market in nearby Shanghai, the report said, but even those ones showed telltale signs of forchlorfenuron use: fibrous, misshapen fruit with mostly white instead of black seeds.
In March last year, Chinese authorities found that ``yard-long'' beans from the southern city of Sanya had been treated with the banned pesticide isocarbophos. The tainted beans turned up in several provinces, and the central city of Wuhan announced it destroyed 3.5 tons of the vegetable.
The government also has voiced alarm over the widespread overuse of food additives like dyes and sweeteners that retailers hope will make food more attractive and boost sales.
Though Chinese media remain under strict government control, domestic coverage of food safety scandals has become more aggressive in recent months, an apparent sign that the government has realized it needs help policing the troubled food industry.
The CCTV report on watermelons quoted Feng Shuangqing, a professor at the China Agricultural University, as saying the problem showed that China needs to clarify its farm chemical standards and supervision to protect consumer health.
The broadcaster described the watermelons as ``land mines'' and said they were exploding by the acre (hectare) in the Danyang area.
Many of farmers resorted to chopping up the fruit and feeding it to fish and pigs, the report said.
(AP)
풍선처럼 터져버린 수박, 왜?
中서 성장촉진제 사용 수박 폭발 소동
중국 남동부 장쑤성(江蘇省)에서 재배되던 수 박들이 갑자기 폭발하는 사태가 잇달아 일어나고 있으며 조사 결과 우기에 성장촉진 제를 과도하게 사용한 것이 원인으로 밝혀졌다고 전문가들이 밝혔다.
수박 수확철인 5월 단양시 관내 달루 마을에서 일어난 수박 폭발사건으로 약 45 헥타르의 밭에서 수박을 재배하던 20여 농가가 피해를 입은 것으로 밝혀졌다.
달루 마을의 수박 재배농 류밍수오는 "올해 처음으로 수박을 심었으며 지난 6일 성장촉진제 포르클로르페누론과 인스턴트 칼슘제를 살포했는데 다음 날 약 180개의 수박이 폭발했다"고 밝혔다.
지난해까지 이 마을의 수박 재배농은 7가구뿐이었으나 수박값이 폭등하자 너도 나도 수박을 심은 것으로 밝혀졌다.
농사 전문가들은 수박밭 10군데를 조사한 뒤 포르클로르페누론 사용과 오랜 가 뭄 끝에 갑작스러운 폭우가 쏟아진 것, 껍질이 얇은 품종 등 여러 요인이 합쳐져 수 박 폭발 사건을 일으킨 것으로 보인다고 말했다.
난징농업대학의 왕량주 교수는 류밍수오가 너무 늦게 성장 촉진제를 준 것이 문 제이며 인스턴트 칼슘제는 오히려 폭발을 막는 것이기 때문에 문제가 되지 않는다고 지적했다.
그러나 포르클로르페누론을 사용한 농민은 류밍수오 뿐인데도 이를 사용하지 않 은 농민들까지 수박 폭발 사태를 호소하고 있다.
장쑤 농업과학연구소의 한 관계자는 수박 10통 가운데 하나가 폭발하는 것은 정 상이며 폭발률은 품종과 날씨 증에 따라 달라질 수 있다고 말했다.
문제의 성장촉진제는 중국의 금지품목이 아니며 미국에서도 참다래와 포도에 사 용이 허용된다.
이 제품을 생산하는 회사측은 지난 10년간 이 상품을 판매해 왔지만 아무런 문 제도 없다고 말하고 있지만 소비자들은 `폭발하는 수박'에 우려를 감추지 못하고 있 다.
한 주민은 "보기 좋은 과일들에 화학물질이 남아있을까 걱정된다"고 말했으며 또 다른 주민은 "탁구공만한 딸기, 달걀만한 포도 등 너무 큰 과일들이 흔하다"고 걱정스럽게 말했다.
중국 남부 우한성에서는 지난해 금지 농약인 이소카보포스를 사용한 길이 90㎝의 콩깍지가 발견된 후 당국이 3.5t을 수거해 폐기한 일도 있다.
중국 정부는 농작물의 상품성을 높이기 위해 착색료나 감미료 등 식품 첨가물을 과다하게 사용하는 일이 광범위하게 벌어지고 있다고 우려를 표시했다.
(연합)