HANGZHOU - A false rumor that persimmons from a village in East China's Zhejiang province are poisonous has upset farmers and prompted the local government to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of the scaremonger.

Xinlou village in Zhoushan town is famous for its persimmons, so when leaflets claiming the locally-grown "Fangshan" persimmon is infected with a "chronic virus" that causes health problems appeared at bazaars and marketplaces, persimmon growers and the local government were outraged.

The leaflets alleged Japanese troops infected local persimmons with the disease when they occupied the area during the WWII in order to make Chinese people ill.

Some persimmon farmers fear the rumor will hurt persimmon sales after the upcoming harvest of the fruit.

The local government in East China is offering a 10,000 yuan ($1,500) reward for information about the origins of the malicious rumor.

"Usually it is the police that offer rewards for information, but this time it is the government offering the money," said Hu Longgang, a local police officer.

Zhu Wenjie, a spokesman for the Xinlou government, dismissed the leaflets as nothing but slanderous, noting that no harmful virus has been detected in the persimmons.

"Those leaflets were designed to frighten fruit merchants coming to sign contracts to buy persimmons," said Zhu.

As the harvest season nears, the rumor has caused a great stir in the village.

Ling Fengyu, a local persimmon farmer, remembered a similar rumor that circulated last year and cut his persimmon sales by a third.

"Everyone panicked on hearing the 'poisonous persimmons' rumor. I had no choice but to watch a large portion of my freshly-harvested persimmons rot," said Ling.

"Xinlou is a poor village where every family relies on persimmons for their livelihoods," said local farmer Cheng Xuguang. "Those slanderous leaflets have brought us nightmares."

According to local government spokesman Zhu, the rumor's impact on this year's persimmon sales is limited so far, but officials fear the rumor will tarnish the reputation of the area's local persimmons over the long term.