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Cherriipop podcast 110520 - Exploding watermelons in China by CherriiPOP
Watermelons are exploding everywhere on farms in China. News have dubbed it the ‘Melon’ land mine. The image of exploding watermelons is quite amusing, it sounds like something the Mythbusters team would do in an experiment.
The cause of the exploding watermelons isn’t because someone was playing pranks. The reason is actually farmers overdosing crops with growth hormones. It’s kind of scary - How much growth hormone did they pump in to the watermelons to cause it to explode?
Around 20 farmers around Danyang city have been affected, with more than 45 hectares of watermelons exploding. Reports suggest that farmers with exploding melons were first time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron.
Chinese regulations don’t forbid forchlorfenuron, in the US it can be used on kiwi fruit and grapes.
Many farmers are devastated by seeing their melons exploding. I hope the next crop they grow the melons the old fashion way.
