A few days ago, 'hop shoots' took internet by storm. On March 31, IAS officer Supriya Sahu took to Twitter to tweet about "Amresh Singh, an enterprising farmer from Bihar, the first one in India," who cultivates 'hop-shoots' that "costs about Rs 1 lakh." She had added that this "can 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," she had tweeted, along with a news paper report about the farmer, published a month ago.
Now, a report by Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran suggests that this news is false.
When the Dainik Jagran team visited Amresh Singh's village in Bihar, they found that such a crop is not being grown there, and the locals too said they haven't come across such a crop being grown there.
When the team reached out to Singh over the phone, he told them that the crop is being grown in Nalanda district, but the team couldn't find it there as well. He then told the newspaper that it is being grown in Aurangabad.
District magistrate of Aurangabad reportedly told the newspaper that there is no such cultivation grown in the district.
A story about 'hop-shoots' had appeared on the www.theweek.in as well.
What are hop shoots
Hop shoots, scientifically known as humulus-lupulus, were discovered in the early 11th century. Before their medicinal properties were discovered, they were considered to be weed .
Hop shoots' fruit, flower, and stem are used in making beverages, including beer, and in the manufacture of antibiotics, as well as for other medicinal purposes. The flower of the plant, called hop-cones or strobile, is used as a stability agent while making beer—to balance the sweetness of the beer. The drug made from the stalks of this plant has been found to have a high effect on the treatment of tuberculosis (TB).
Hop shoots are well known in European countries for protecting skin in the cold climate as its antioxidants help in skin gleaming.
Hop shoots play an important role in the treatment of cancer—Hop acids, namely humulones and lupulones, block leukaemia cells from damaging the bones.