So the next time you see tomatoes with an extra sheen, lush green fenugreek leaves or invitingly purple brinjals at the vegetable mart, remember they could well have been sprayed with country liquor for getting that perky look.

In the rural parts of a district better known for its urban counterpart that is emerging as an IT and automobile manufacturing hub, there is a quiet revolution on. One where the use of alcohol as a crop a yield enhancer and an alternative for costly pesticides is being discovered with no help from agriculture scientists.

“It’s much more effective than many bio-pesticides and plant tonics in the market and its easy availability at a much lower price allows the farmers to use it more frequently. I have found that it has a say in whether the produce is graded in the premium category,” says Damodar Modak of Wadki village, some 20 kms from the city.

The alcohol-induced makeover is being applied chiefly to tomatoes, capsicum, brinjal, ladies finger, cauliflower, onion, coriander leaves, and fenugreek.

“It seems interesting. Using alcohol for better yield seems novel and a study could be carried out,” says Agriculture Minister Balasaheb Thorat, adding that he’ll ask research teams from agriculture colleges to seed details from farmers. And Agriculture Commissioner Dr Krishna Lavhekar said he’s hearing of the method for the first time.

Farmers openly acknowledge spraying liquor on vegetables to kill pests that are resistant to costly pesticide. They also say that spraying alcohol on the vegetables before harvest adds definite colour and sheen and that the crop may be better for humans than if it were sprayed with pesticide.

Take a tour of Pune’s hinterland, where horticulture farms are spread over thousands of acres, and almost all farmers say they use country liquor as a crop enhancer. Nobody knows where the practice started first, though. Some say it was in Shirur, in Pune district, and some say it was in the Marathawada and Vidarbha belts.

The economics works out well too. Says Dhananjay Raskar, who has just sprayed his two acre onion farm with desi daru, “I’ve been spraying my crop with liquor every 20 days. I need to buy 10 quarters of the stuff every time.”

One quarter (180 ml) of liquor costs Rs 24, while the illicit stuff comes at half the rate. Against this, bio-stimulants cost nearly Rs 90 for 20 ml.

Among the government authorities aware of the practice is P N Raut, director (extension & training) department of agriculture. “No legal action can be taken against such use of liquor,” he says. “We’ll be sending squads to these areas to tell farmers it does not really benefit the crop. However, it won’t cause any harm to those who consume the vegetables.”

And Dr V V Datar, Associate Dean and Principal of College of Agriculture, Latur, says people should wash the vegetables well before use for country liquor, especially illicit hooch, contains ammonium chloride.