Exploding Watermelons in China

[CalMeacham]

Sounds like some weird SF plot, or an Onion article, but apparently it’s true:

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2011/05/17/china_watermelons_burst_from_excess_chemicals/?camp=obinsite

BEIJING—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.

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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.

[Taomist]

No worries; it’s just a Gallagher experiment gone wrong.

[Autolycus]

Any word if that drug is safe for humans?

[Antigen]

@Autolycus

Any word if that drug is safe for humans?

It’s sold as a wafer-thin mint.