
Farmers in India use Pepsi/Coke instead of pesticides - neeharc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3977351.stm
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brass9
Did this news precede the allegation that both Pepsi and Coca-cola (at least
in India) contained pesticide in their drink?

I remember there was a huge uproar when that news broke and both companies had
to invest heavily into PR campaign (involving several movie mega-stars) to
play it down.

Update: Looks like it is. The Pepsi/Coke pesticide brouhaha took place in
2006.

[http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-08-09/india-
pestici...](http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-08-09/india-pesticide-
claims-shake-up-coke-and-pepsi)

[http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2013/03/06/india-press-
repo...](http://www.occupymonsanto360.org/2013/03/06/india-press-report-coke-
pepsi-are-loaded-with-pesticide-residues/)

Update #2: News of Pepsi/Coke being used in lieu of pesticides is also making
the rounds...

[http://consciouslifenews.com/coke-pepsi-being-pesticides-
ind...](http://consciouslifenews.com/coke-pepsi-being-pesticides-
india/1145862/)

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npguy
This is really very old news. This bbc news article is from Wednesday, 3
November, 2004.

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antninja
Tip to those farmers: you can now sell your products as organic food, at a
higher price.

The article is quite misleading, though. Sugar isn't used as a pesticide. It's
a way to control the ecosystem, like introducing a new species to prey on
another. Coke doesn't directly kill the insects (as far as we know).

~~~
greenyoda
The article does say that Coke doesn't actually kill insects:

 _[Agricultural specialist Devendra Sharma says] the drinks are effectively
sugar syrups and when they are poured on crops they attract ants which in turn
feed on the larva of insects._

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27182818284
This seems very reasonable to me, because this is how the
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C4%81pple> was accidentally discovered. Birds
don't like the taste of artificial grape flavoring.

If you're looking for an interesting, but light read, I'd highly recommend
[http://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Hunters-Adventure-Commerce-
Obses...](http://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Hunters-Adventure-Commerce-
Obsession/dp/B002ECEG8O)

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danmaz74
It would be very interesting to try sugared water vs cola vs pesticides -
scientifically. It should be some public-funded research though, as no private
company could benefit from this study (unless it is to disprove that sugar
works).

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tarequeh
Idiocracy anyone?

~~~
wereHamster
But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes.

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fus
Three IMHO relevant things: a) High phosphoric acid content in the Coke b)
Importance of phosphorus in a organic life:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#Biological_role> c) "Phosphorus is a
scarce finite resource on earth" && "recycling" ->
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_phosphorus>

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jpkeisala
My mom uses Coca-Cola to remove mineral stains from toilet. She says works
better than chemicals.

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venomsnake
Put a litmus paper in it, and you will be delighted by the red color that you
will see. When you clean something you need either base or an acid. Vinegar
will do just fine too.

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vilgax
Well if that really works, then Indian farmers have done a good hack at pest
control. But how that excess sugar affect soil, plantation and local ecology
than those other pesticides, should be further studied.

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OGinparadise
_Unsurprisingly, Pepsi and Coca-Cola strongly disagree, saying there is
nothing in the drinks that can be used in pest control._

Coming soon: You drink Coke? Are you nuts? It's so toxic, they use it as a
pesticide.

~~~
illuminate
Not referring to you/HN, but I tend to filter out anyone who uses the word
"toxins" without understanding what they are.

~~~
OGinparadise
In my defense: I didn't try to write a scientific paper, it was about what
could be a commercial against drinking coke /pepsi. In reality, perception
matters so no matter what toxins and toxic mean scientifically, once you link
something to pesticides it's close enough for the average Joe and Jane. But I
understand your point, people use them very loosely.

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jamespitts
Coka-Cola needs to quickly bring to market a sugar-based pesticide under a
different name that costs less than Coke.

