Do you know which is the world’s most expensive vegetable? Well, the answer is Hop Shoots, known for its antibacterial properties. What’s even more interesting is the fact that this vegetable is being grown by a farmer in Bihar.
NSE
Hop Shoots sell for around Rs 1 lakh a kilogram, New Indian Express reported. Amresh Singh, a 38-year-old who hails from the Karamdih village in Aurangabad, started growing the vegetable in his 5 kathas of farmland. Singh told the newspaper that over 60 percent of his cultivation bore fruit and requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make special arrangements for the promotion of Hop Shoots’ cultivation.
He brought the saplings from the Indian Vegetable Research Institute at Varanasi and planted them around two months ago. "I hope it will be a grand success and bring a turnaround to the agriculture in Bihar," Singh said.
The Hop-Shoots is sold for 1,000 pounds a kg even 6 years ago in overseas markets, which comes roughly to about Rs 1 lakh. This crop is hardly seen in the Indian market and bought only by placing a particular order.
The medical benefits of hop-shoots are that it helps create antibodies to fight against diseases like tuberculosis. Also, its acids are known to help kill cancer cells and block leukaemia cells. It was used as a flavouring agent in beer. Gradually, its use as a vegetable and herbal medicine grew in a number of countries.
Indian Administrative Service officer Supriya Sahu has shared the pictures of the crop on Twitter and said it could be a “game-changer” for Indian farmers.
One kilogram of this vegetable costs about Rs 1 lakh ! World's costliest vegetable,'hop-shoots' is being cultivated by Amresh Singh an enterprising farmer from Bihar, the first one in India. Can be a game changer for Indian farmers