Farmers in India in the state of Chhattisgarh use coke and pepsi as pesticides because it’s cheaper than pesticides and gets the job done just as well. (Video below).

Pepsi and Coca-Cola strongly disagree that their products can be used as pesticides because they say there is nothing in the drinks that can be used as pest control. But, the Farmers in the Durg, Rajnandgaon and Dhamtari districts of Chhattisgarh disagree and have successfully used Pepsi and Coke to protect their rice plantations against pests. Rajnandgaon recently grew a world record in rice production without the use of GMOs.  "Using cola as pesticide," farmers say, "is not 100% natural or organic but surely it must be safer than traditional poisons."

This is a trend that is seen across other parts of India, with farmers using other Indian brands of colas too. The practice of using soft drinks instead of pesticides, which are up to 10 times more expensive, is gaining so much popularity that sales of soft drinks have increased dramatically in many villages. Farmers say the use of pesticides can cost them about 70 rupees ($1.50) an acre. By comparison, if they mix up a bottle of Pepsi or Coke with water and spray it on their crops it costs 55-60 rupees less per acre.

When you multiply these savings the farmers are noticing a significant change in earnings and at the same time are noticing the lack of pesticide use is keeping their soil rich. Agricultural specialist Devendra Sharma says some farmers actually think that the drinks are the same as pesticides, but he explains it’s most likely because of the sugar syrups and when they are poured on crops they attract ants which in turn feed on the larva of insects