Is Bihar farmer cultivating 'hop shoots'? Viral pictures tell different story
one kilogram of `hop shoots' grown by the farmer costs about Rs 1 lakh. “World's costliest vegetable is being....
By Satya Priya BN Published on 5 April 2021 7:50 AM GMT
Images of a Bihar farmer and his crop have gone viral for a different reason.
Users claim that one kilogram of `hop shoots' grown by the farmer costs about Rs 1 lakh. "World's costliest vegetable is being cultivated by Amresh Singh, an enterprising farmer from Bihar. He is the first one in India," reads the claim
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The farmer seen in the images is Amresh Singh hailing from Bihar.
Fact Check:
The claim that farmer from Bihar is cultivating hop shoots is FALSE.
Firstly, we should understand what hop shoots are and why are they so expensive. According to studies, every part of the plant right from the fruit, flower to the stem has multiple usages. It is very useful for the beer industry as they serve as a stability agent. It is also a potential natural remedy for managing Tuberculosis.
The antioxidants found in the vegetable could give you gorgeous skin. The shoots are also known to alleviate anxiety, insomnia, and depression. Hop shoots are not easy to harvest which is another reason why they are so expensive. They grow haphazardly and one has to hunch for long hours to pick them. Since they are so tiny, you have to pick multiple shoots to fill one bag.
An investigation by the Dainik Jagran team exposed the fact that though Amresh started the crop on a trial basis. However, the crop dried up as the farmer could not devote time because of his illness. Amresh had grown black rice and black wheat, which is being cultivated in many places in Bihar. But, hop shoots were nowhere to be seen.
According to the report, locals expressed their ignorance of any such farming. When the relatives contacted Amresh on mobile, they said that they are doing farming in Nalanda. At the same time, the officials of the Agriculture Department said that the crop in the viral picture is not hop shoots.
To verify this, we searched few sites to know how Hop shoot plants look like. The hop shoot plants are creepers that grow up to 25 feet (8 m.) in length, with each plant up to 12 inches (31 cm.) in diameter, in one growing season.
Here is the complete information about the cultivation of hops
https://www.gardeningknowhow.
https://agrihunt.com/articles/
NDTV, VTV Gujarati also debunked the story and confirmed that it is a fake story
Hop shoots are very expensive vegetables that fetch around Rs 80,000 to 1 lakh per kilogram. The claim that the farmer from Bihar is cultivating this crop is FALSE.
