Why are watermelons exploding in china

Skip to Main Content Skip to Search. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. Dow Jones. By Laurie Burkitt. China's food safety problems are exploding--literally. To Read the Full Story. Watermelons are bursting at the seams in farms throughout southeastern China, and no one is quite sure what's causing it.

Is it chemicals? Freak weather conditions? Or maybe it's just time to prepare for a full-on attack of the watermelons. So far, the exploding watermelons have been localized around Danyang City in China's Jiangsui province. So far, just under a fifth of a square mile's worth of watermelons have been lost due to this mysterious bursting.

An investigative report by China Central Television suggested a growth accelerator chemical was responsible, but agricultural experts don't consider that likely - only one of the ten households affected by the bursting melons actually used the chemical, according to one report.

I sprayed forchlorfenuron, a growth accelerator, and instant calcium on May 6. The next day, about watermelons burst," said Liu Mingsuo. There are now 20 watermelon producers in the village, up from only seven in since last year saw a bumper harvest. Agriculture experts believe that the problem is caused by multiple factors such as the use of forchlorfenuron and sudden heavy rainfall after a long period of dry weather after checking 10 watermelons producers' land in the village.

Only one of the 10 producers, Liu Mingsuo, used forchlorfenuron. The timing was wrong, as he put it on too late in the season, said Wang Liangju, professor with Nanjing Agriculture University.

The instant calcium he applied could not be blamed as it prevents melons from bursting, said Wang. However, farmers who did not use forchlorfenuron said they had also suffered from the same problem.