Is the cracking of watermelon a disaster caused by swelling?

Moderator: Good evening, welcome to the "Economy Half an Hour". Summer is here, and it is a good time to eat watermelon. But recently, the news that the cracking of watermelon caused by the use of swelling agent has caused many people to dare not eat watermelon. There is a phenomenon of slow sales in watermelons everywhere, which makes the farmers complain. The swelling agent belongs to the plant growth regulator. At present, there are more than 500 plant growth regulators in use in China. Which plants use regulators, how are they used, and how safe is it? If there is no large cracking of watermelon, I am afraid that this open secret still exists only in the industry. Today's show, we come to know a variety of growth regulators. First of all, let's first look at the phenomenon of slow sales of watermelons everywhere.

Zhu Zhiyou Guiyang Watermelon Distributor

Zhu Zhiyou: I bought it for 1800 yuan a ton. Now I sell 800 yuan a ton. How much do you think about it?

Zhu Zhiyou is a fruit wholesaler at the wholesale market in Wulizhuang, Guizhou. This batch of watermelons was shipped to the wholesale market a week ago. After more than ten days passed, it was still not sold out. Some melons were already rotten. His heart was very anxious.

Zhu Zhiyou: It is now more than 10,000 pounds.

Retailer: I sold a car for up to two or three days before, and now I sell a car for more than ten days.

The reporter asked several fruit wholesalers here. Most of the watermelons they sold were shipped from Yunnan, Hainan and Myanmar, and sales were affected to varying degrees. Some people think that it is affected by the weather, but most merchants say that the rumor of the swelling agent watermelon caused the slow sales of watermelon.

Retailer: People who buy watermelon will talk about it and ask if my melon will play a ripening agent. Some don't dare to buy, afraid.

In the Panxi Fruit Wholesale Market, one of the largest markets in Chongqing, one-third of the entire market is occupied by watermelon sellers from Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan. However, among the more than 20 sellers, only three or four are doing business.

Reporter: How much is a pound now?

Watermelon Wholesaler: A piece of two or a piece of three bars, from two pieces of six has been falling to the present.

The reporter found that this kind of unicorn melon is still relatively high in the market, and the slightly worse variety can only be sold for seven or eight cents per catty. What worries the dealers is that, accompanied by the fall in prices, it is a sharp drop in sales.

Reporter: How long does it take for this car to be sold out?

Watermelon Wholesalers: Selling for a day, sometimes for hours.

Reporter: What about now?

Watermelon Wholesaler: Now two or three days, slow to sell for six or seven days.

Outside the greenhouse of Yanling Town, Danyang City, Jiangsu Province, the reporter saw Liu Mingsuo, a melon farmer. Not long ago, because of the bursting of his family's watermelon, he was worried about the use of swelling agents in watermelons. The watermelons in several villages began to be unsalable.

Liu Mingsuo, Yannong Town, Danyang City, Jiangsu Province

Reporter: How much have you planted?

Liu Mingsuo: More than 30 acres.

Reporter: What is the normal income of this mu?

Liu Mingsuo: Normally it is 45,000 to 5,000.

Reporter: How much have you planted this year?

Melon farmers: 47 acres.

Reporter: How much is the investment?

Melon farmers: 260,000.

The watermelons can't be sold, and the farmers still want to recover some losses as much as possible.

Melon farmers: When the feed. Give the fish to the pigs.

Reporter: When the feed.

From the appearance of "fried melon" to the present, Liu Mingsuo's melon is only less than 10%, and the 260,000 yuan borrowed from the melon is not yet available, and the wages of the workers are also released.

Liu Mingsuo: This is the swelling agent, which is to improve its sweetness. This swelling agent is the time when the melon is small, which can make the melon grow up.

The reporter learned that the main component of this swelling agent is chlorpyrifos, which is a kind of plant growth regulator, which can promote or inhibit plant growth and development. Like ethylene and abscisic acid, it promotes fruit ripening; auxin, cytokinin and gibberellin promote cell division. In addition, plant growth regulators are also used to promote germination, lodging resistance, drought resistance, dwarf plant type and product preservation.

The banana farmers are harvesting only seven mature bananas, because after reaching the place of sale, they can quickly ripen the bananas with a plant growth regulator called ethephon.

The reporter also found that the "top flower thorn" cucumber caused by the network and the media was caused by the preservation regulator.

Reporter: If you have these two cucumbers, which one would you choose?

Citizen 1: I choose this.

Reporter: Why did you choose this?

Citizen 1: I look at this look good.

Citizen 2: This flower is a bad flower, this flower is what makes it.

Citizen 3: There is no flower without flowers, all with flowers.

Citizen 4: Don't worry, scrape the skin and brush it with a small brush.

Moderator: Cracked watermelon allows plant growth hormone such as swelling agent to enter the public view. In fact, plant hormones have long been an indispensable additive in agricultural production. Not only watermelon, but also the use of growth regulators on many of our common vegetables and fruits, such as cucumbers, bananas, and tomatoes, is a very common thing.

The application history of plant growth regulators can be traced back to the first century AD. At that time, people used the ethylene component of olive oil to ripen the figs. In the early 1980s, the largest market for single plant growth regulators was the US cotton shedding agent, followed by ethephon for rubber tapping and sugar cane ripening.

Since the beginning of the 1940s, China has introduced growth regulators such as 2.4-D to promote fruit-bearing fruit in greenhouses. This practice has become an important measure in greenhouse greenhouse production.

In Chengdu, Sichuan, the reporter investigated the application of regulators. Guain Li Shuangbao is using a regulator called clopidogrel to give fruit to the watermelon.

Li Shuangbao Guonong

Li Shuangbao: It is a kind of flowering effect that stimulates the melon. Just spray it, you can.

Li Shuangbao said that in the past, most of the melon farmers used manual pollination. Later, they started using this chlorpyrifos, which not only saves labor, but also does not grow seeds.

Li Shuangbao: If you order, you have to take the flowers down and turn the flowers over. That's it. Just look for this, but if this medicine is sprayed, it will be done directly. Mainly plays this role. If it is an artificial point, it will not spray for about ten days.

Li Shuangbao calculated the account for the reporter. He has 25 acres of watermelon land, two melons a year, can save nearly 10,000 yuan.

The reporter visited a number of agricultural stores in Jiangsu, Sichuan and Other places, and found that almost every store is selling plant growth regulators, the price is generally around 10-30 yuan per box.

Agricultural resources dealers: It may be that for large areas, some people may buy in order to pursue higher output.

The reporter visited a local regulator manufacturing company. Here, we met Hou Yong, a regulator researcher at the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He was involved in the research and development of clopidogrel and gibberellin. His other identity is this regulation. Deputy General Manager of the agent production company.

Hou Yong, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Hou Yong: The amount used is relatively small, and its effect tends to be intuitive.

Hou Yong told reporters that after the emergence of these regulators, some farmers even used it instead of some fertilizers. Like the regulators produced by their company, there are sales outlets not only in Sichuan, but also in Zhejiang and west to Xinjiang.

Associate Researcher, Hou Yong, Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Hou Yong: For example, pollination, just spray it on the left side and spray it on the right side. With such a simple action, you can let this melon sit. This is very difficult to use in a conventional way. So this thing carries a mystery.

Moderator: Although plant growth regulators have a long history of use, we have never been so concerned. This is because many people are not aware of the use of growth agents in plant growth, and on the other hand, because many people do not understand how the growth agent affects the human body. Next, let's take a look at what kind of substance is this plant growth regulator? Is it harmful to human health?

Feng Shuangqing Professor, School of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University

Feng Shuangqing: Those hormones that can promote the growth and development of mature aging have no effect on humans.

Feng Shuangqing is a professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University. Feng Shuangqing believes that although the plant will use a swelling agent to rapidly expand, the human body will not produce such a reaction.

Feng Shuangqing Professor, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University

Feng Shuangqing: Plants can carry out photosynthesis. It turns light energy into chemical energy. It can be stored, turned into sugar, and turned into starch. But we don't have this effect. After we have to eat in, we pass through metabolism. In order to generate energy, it is completely two systems.

Wang Yuedan, associate professor of the Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Medicine, member of the Chinese Society of Immunology, has been engaged in tumor immunology research and opposes the use of plant growth regulators.

Wang Yuedan Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, Peking University School of Medicine

Wang Yuedan: A report from Stanford University in the United States, this clopidogrel affects the assembly of GTPase in living mammalian cells. From this picture, this is a normal kidney epithelial cell of a dog. Without the normal condition of chlorpyrifos, it is round, and the addition of clopidogrel becomes like this. We see the hela cells more clearly, hela cells are recognized as uterine cancer lesions, no clopidogrel is added like this, plus clopidogrel becomes like this, the change is very obvious.

Wang Yuedan collected information on growth regulators, especially chlorpyrifos, the main raw material for swelling agents in the past 20 years in the United States. It was found that clopidogrel was not registered in the United States. In 1999, the United States identified chlorine in the grapes produced in Mexico. Pyridinium, a random sample of 29 grape companies that entered California. This incident led Wang Yuedan to discover that plant growth regulators as chemical substances can not be ignored.

Wang Yuedan: Now that we have seen that the cells have become longer, is it that the characteristics of the cells have changed, or that the cells will have some damage? This is all the research and data that need to be tested to support. Now we conclude that it is too early. But at least we now determine that the bulking agent has an effect on the animal's cells. It's not that plant hormones have no effect at all on human or mammalian cells.

Wang Yuedan's investigation found that not only clopidogrel, but also a regulator called B9 in the United States, was a relatively successful plant growth retardant selected in the 1960s. Around 1987, some tests showed that B9 itself is not carcinogenic, but metabolic residues are toxic to humans and can cause cancer. In 1989, the US Department of Agriculture officially banned the use of such regulators. The sense of crisis caused by the elongated cells made Wang Yuedan strongly opposed to the use of chlorpyrifos and other swelling agents. However, regarding Wang Yuedan's opinion, Hou Yong, a regulator researcher, has different opinions.

Unlike the experimental data seen by Wang Yuedan, the results of their study are that the toxicity of several commonly used regulators is very low.

Hou Yong, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Hou Yong: This is some data sheets. As a conclusion, the results of this experiment indicate that the acute oral LD50 of clopidogrel for SD rats is greater than 5000 mg/kg, which is a microtoxic class.

Hou Yong said that in toxicology, LD50 is often used to indicate the level of toxicity, which is the half lethal dose of mice. But in fact, this micro-poison is a chemical statement. Some substances used in our daily life, the LD50 value does not look low.

Hou Yong, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Hou Yong: Its LD50 is more than 5000, and our salt LD50 is still 3000, so it is toxic and non-toxic, see how we can distinguish it.

Hou Yong believes that the amount of plant growth regulator used on crops is very small. The regulators used to accelerate fruit growth like clopidogrel are required to be used once during the flowering period, and the final residue per kilogram of fruit may even be Not more than 0.03 ppm. The US experimental report that Wang Yuedan saw, using 16 ppm, can not be easily derived into the actual situation.

In the world's major agricultural producing countries, although there have been some bans on certain varieties of regulators, overall, regulators are still used. Americans have been using plant growth regulators since 1930. Regulators, like pesticides and fertilizers, have become an important part of American agricultural production. ,

Wang Liangwei, Professor, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University

Wang Liangzhu: In the production of regulators, they are all low-toxic or slightly toxic. Its toxicity is like salt. We may get tired after eating more, but for the human body, it may be better to sleep.

However, experts who disagree with the safety of plant growth regulators are not optimistic. Wang Yuedan analyzed that some slightly toxic chemicals can be metabolized by the human body, but each person's physical condition is different. In some cases, micro-toxic substances also endanger human health.

Wang Yuedan: Everyone and everyone is different, for example, we are all healthy. But if this person has kidney disease, or has other diseases, it may not be as fast as we are after taking this swelling agent. That may be okay for us, but it will have an impact after eating. Or this person is very old, his brother's organs are not good, and there may be big problems.

In Wang Yuedan's view, although there are no explicit bans on the use of regulators in many countries around the world, this is not enough to justify the safety of plant growth regulators. Wang Yuedan told us that many chemicals have been found to be harmful to humans after being used for more than ten years or even decades. For example, dichlorvos, a highly toxic pesticide, was first used in agricultural production because of its obvious insecticidal effect and increased yield. It is widely used, but after 20 years, it was found to be highly toxic to the human body and was banned.

Zheng Fengtian, Associate Dean, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Renmin University of China

Zheng Fengtian: I think that these various chemical synthetic products should be very cautious, not artificial, and then such technology can be. You want to be good-looking, or to increase production a little bit of production, and then let the consumer take on such a kind of technology that bears a huge health risk after eating, I think it is better to use it with caution.

Moderator: As long as you spray it gently, you can complete complex pollination, and save time and money. Plant growth regulators not only make crops high-yield, early in the market, but also look more beautiful, which means they can sell for better prices, which is of course good news for the hard-working farmers. As for whether the growth regulator is safe, no one can tell. So what are we going to do in the face of the regulators that have been marked with question marks? Please continue watching after the advertisement.

Moderator: Welcome back. In the above program, we have seen that the safety of plant growth regulators has not been said to be so far. Whether it is safe or not, it is mostly in the experimental and hypothetical stages. In other words, we should neither I scare myself, but I can't be blindly optimistic. So, is it necessary to use conditioners in agricultural production? Don't you have to do it?

Hou Yong, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Hou Yong: There is a certain rationality in its existence. In fact, we need this thing in agricultural production now, so it is widely used.

Hou Yong said that the current use of regulators does not rule out the commercial purposes of producing agricultural products (15.99, -0.93, -5.50%), but in fact, as a research and development personnel, he himself supports the use of regulators in agriculture. Because, in many cases, regulators are needed to solve some production obstacles in agricultural production.

Hou Yong, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Biotechnology and Nuclear Technology, Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Hou Yong: When it is inside the greenhouse, it is for insects or artificial pollination, but this pollination is affected by several reasons. In the case of high greenhouse temperature, there is no way for insects, or the bee will not pollinate it in such a high environment. This is one. The second, artificial pollination, does not necessarily have to find so many suitable powders for it. In this case, without pollination, there is no output in the yield of this melon. I think the application of this regulator on watermelon is to make this melon sit still and not fall down. There is a certain inevitability in its use. Rather than saying that I can use it instead of not.

Hou Yong said that agricultural production is subject to many environmental factors, so that the growth potential of crops cannot be fully exerted, and it is difficult to solve them by conventional cultivation methods. In this case, regulators have to be used.

Hou Yong: For example, lodging, for example, can not sit out melons, drop melons, low temperature and rain, no way to pollinate, no insect pollination, these things are a barrier to its production. Like a willow tree, it has a very good rooting. It has a genetically determined ability to take root and root. It doesn't need to be used, but like grapes, it is not easy to take root. At this time, we pass external factors. Inducing and stimulating it to take root, this is also a cultivation method in cultivation technology.

Guonong Li Shuangbao started to use plant conditioners in the past few years. The first reason was that he found that greenhouse temperature was not suitable for bees to survive, and there was no way to naturally pollinate.

Li Shuangbao: When you want to go outside 30 degrees, there is a temperature of 40 degrees inside the shed. If it is too hot, it will not work. It is usually between 25-28 degrees.

Li Shuangbao said that although Dapeng temperature is suitable, there is no guarantee that pollen can be artificially pollinated.

Li Shuangbao: You have to pollinate with flowers. It is only available from 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning. Generally, there is no powder in the afternoon. If there is no powder, it will not be right.

Reporter: The best days of flowering are best.

Li Shuangbao: The day before and the day after tomorrow, after three days, it will not work.

Li Shuangbao said that he has left this plant growth regulator and his production is almost insecure.

Hou Yong: Actually, it should be said that there is a better technical solution. I don’t advocate using a regulator. If it is a production obstacle, it can’t be solved. It’s necessary to have this thing appear, or something like this. Use, that is inevitable, there is no way to choose.

Feng Shuangqing Professor, School of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University

Feng Shuangqing: Since the birth of this growth regulator, it has played a big role in agricultural production. For example, our grape, the grape grows very large and does not fall off.

In Hou Yong and Feng Shuangqing's view, one of the main reasons for the large-scale application of plant growth regulators is the need for modern agricultural development, but there are also industry experts who disagree with this view.

Zheng Fengtian, Associate Dean, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Renmin University of China

Zheng Fengtian: It does not represent the direction of the future. The future direction should be ecological, organic and environmentally friendly. This is the direction. Rather than a one-sided ecological cost for production, this is the direction of modern agriculture, but they are wearing a big hat for themselves.

Professor Zheng Fengtian, deputy dean of the School of Agriculture and Rural Development of Renmin University, has been studying food safety regulations for more than 20 years. He believes that regulators of R&D experts have unilaterally amplified the need for regulators. According to Zheng Fengtian, from his research, the use of regulators in agricultural production is not only an increase in production, but also an unexpected destructive power.

Zheng Fengtian, Associate Dean, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Renmin University of China

Zheng Fengtian: Actually, I think he avoided a big problem. I look at the kiwifruit in the northwest. In many places, I use a swelling agent. Some first-line technicians have found that kiwifruit with a swelling agent has several symptoms. The first one is particularly resistant to storage. The second taste is particularly bad. The third is the problem of the occurrence of large and small years. That is, when the output is relatively high in the same year, the damage to soil fertility is relatively large, and the output in the second year is particularly low.

Moderator: In the late 1990s, the annual application of regulators in China reached more than 20 million hectares. At present, the use of plant growth regulators is on the rise, but the safety issue of growth regulators is still a vague state, a huge Industry means a huge impulse to drive the use of these additives. Modern agriculture is increasingly relying on modern means, so how to effectively supervise these additives?

Feng Shuangqing, a professor at China Agricultural University, believes that the existence of regulators is necessary, and most of the damage caused by production is due to improper use.

Feng Shuangqing Professor, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University

Feng Shuangqing: In what case, at what time period, how many doses can be used, only a few times, and the most important thing is that the farmers’ friends should have a bottom.

Zheng Fengtian, Associate Dean, School of Agriculture and Rural Development, Renmin University of China

Zheng Fengtian: Now this technology has been used in our country for so many years, but the corresponding experts who engage in health and environment do not have any long-term observation reports.

Zheng Fengtian told us that at present, there are more than 540 kinds of plant growth regulators approved for production in China, which is the country with the largest number of regulators and the most restrictive countries in the world. However, in Japan, regulators are strictly restricted, and only 87 species of plant growth regulators are currently approved for use.

Experts tell us that in some countries in Japan and the European Union, although plant growth regulators are allowed, in fact these countries are very cautious about the safety research and how to use them.

Zheng Fengtian: Europe is very cautious about various chemical synthetic products, so now organic agriculture in many countries in Europe has developed by 70% or 80%. It guarantees many people. The agricultural products I eat basically contain no chemical fertilizers and pesticides. A wide variety of chemical synthetic products. Then Japan is also, basically in the past is a big country of additive invention. The Japanese are also very strict with this technology because it has a very strict residue standard that is many times higher than the world standard.

In Japan, the safety of plant conditioners is reviewed and verified by the Consumer Safety Technology Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. If the new product does not set a safety standard value, it is necessary to confirm the influence of the regulator residue on the human body in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and to confirm the environmental pollution of the regulator in the Ministry of the Environment. Then, it is necessary to compare the provisional standard value with the daily allowable intake of the world and the food safety committee to determine the final standard value.

Uchida and Zuoweimen Director of the Japan Pesticide Industry Association

The cost of a survey (from one data) ranges from a few million to more than 100 million, but in general a new drug needs between 5 billion and 10 billion yen. The cost of the security investigation is a must.

In Japan, after a plant growth regulator product was put on the market, in addition to receiving random inspections by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the production site, the company will re-register with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries every three years. Local government staff and agricultural association staff will provide specific guidance on the amount of use and time of use of farmers. In 2002, a foreign imported regulator was not officially registered and flowed into the market. After the problem was exposed, the Japanese imposed a strict punishment system for the use of regulators. Individuals were randomly sold and used, and imprisonment for up to three years or A fine of 1 million yen or less will be imposed, and a fine of 100 million yen or less will be imposed on the sales of the company.

In the United States, plant growth regulators are jointly certified by the US Department of Agriculture and the State Department of Agriculture and other related agencies, and production is also concentrated in large enterprises.

Elizabeth Reuters Financial Reviewer New York

Most plant growth regulators are developed and produced by large chemical companies like Dow Chemical, BASF, and small companies, but they are usually affiliated with a large company such as Unilever. Therefore, whether plant growth regulators are used in large-scale industrial agricultural production or in small-scale production by individual farmers, they will undergo strict safety testing.

Half an hour observation:

As a northerner, I still remember that I especially looked forward to the summer when I was young, because I can eat watermelon in the summer. But now I have no such expectations, because even in winter, I can buy watermelon.

It is undeniable that modern agriculture enriches the human table and satisfies the human desires, but it also brings us a lot of thinking. The experts who use this variety of growth regulators are divided into two distinct factions. The opponents and supporters have their own words. Who can't convince anyone? If so, why are we not careful to use it?

Then why do we have to use plant growth regulators? In order to eat summer cucumbers in winter? Or to eat more bright and beautiful tomatoes? Objectively speaking, plant growth regulators are an advancement in agricultural production technology and have greatly enriched our table to make our diet more enjoyable, but we still have to be alert to the abuse of regulators. Because everything has a degree. Only scientific and appropriate use can really make plant growth regulators play a positive role. Otherwise, even if the watermelon grows bigger and eats sweeter, the consumer will not accept the account, and will not pay the bill.